Fall With Me
by CosmicLove13
Summary: Autumn is a new SHIELD agent with electrifying powers. Her very first solo mission is to gather intel from the Lemurian Star, but after running into Captain America and the Black Widow, everything takes a turn for the worse and she soon finds herself on the run with the two Avengers. Begins at the Winter Soldier storyline. Will change to 'M' during later chapters. Steve/OC pairing.
1. Mission: Compromised

**Hey guys. This is my second story on FanFiction and for those of you who are reading my other story, don't worry! I plan to keep updating both.**

 **Autumn Carmichael is a new SHIELD agent with electrifying powers. Director Fury is quick to see her potential and pairs her up with Natasha as her mentor. Her very first solo mission is to gather intel from the Lemurian Star, but that doesn't go as planned. From the moment she ran into Captain America and the Black Widow on the Lemurian Star, everything takes a turn for the worse and she soon finds herself on the run with the two Avengers. Steve/OC pairing. Rating may change to 'M' later on.**

 **Here's a short description of my OC:  
** **Autumn Annette Carmichael  
** **Age: 26  
** **Hair: Brunette, usually kept back in ponytail.  
** **Eyes: Dark blue  
** **Height: 5'2"  
** **Weight: 115  
** **Powers: Electricity  
** **Specializes: Computer Technology, Advanced Technology**

* * *

"You ready for your first mission, kid?"

Autumn raised a daring eyebrow at her redheaded mentor. "Seriously? You're not that much older than me, Romanoff."

It was 2014 and tomorrow Autumn would be going on her first mission as a SHIELD agent. Her mission was to board the Lemurian Star and extract as much intel from the ship as she could. It was her first mission and it came from Director Fury himself. And it was a solo mission. Since Natasha was her mentor, she was the only other person who knew the details of her mission.

"I don't know, you're pretty young. You hardly look intimidating. May I suggest some eyeliner?" Natasha smirked at the brunette.

Autumn could feel her nostrils flaring in annoyance.

"No, thank you. Besides, maybe I'll throw off some of the bad guys with my innocent looks. They might think I'm too young and not want to hit me. Or they're bad guys so wait they actually might."

The Black Widow only rolled her eyes. Autumn talked a lot, but she actually was growing fond of her.

"Yeah, sure. You set for tomorrow?"

Autumn nodded her head confidently.

"Yes, I am."

"Are you excited?" Natasha sarcastically asked.

"Excited is not the word...but I'm ready. Do I have to wear this skin tight black suit? Doesn't SHIELD issue something a little more comfortable than this?"

"No, now shut it and let's see how it looks on you."

"Ugh. You sound like my mom."

"I dare you to say that again."

The 26-year-old brunette originally entered the SHIELD academy in hopes of working in the Advanced Technology Division, but upon her initial entry, SHIELD had discovered her powers, something she originally wanted to keep a secret. Autumn had the unique power of conducting electricity. When Director Fury caught wind of her abilities, he approached her immediately and convinced her to train as a field agent. With the help of SHIELD, Autumn learned to control her powers and it didn't take long before it was second nature to her. She could gesture at an object and electrocute it in it an instant. Not to mention she gained some bad ass fighting skills.

After graduating SHIELD academy, Fury had her training with Natasha every so often. When Autumn had questioned the director, he told her it was because someone with her powers shouldn't settle for being just a SHIELD agent. Maybe someday Fury would recruit her as an Avenger? But she thought that would be highly unlikely. Or maybe someday he would recruit her to be on the STRIKE team instead. As much as she wanted to question the man, she decided not to. If Fury wanted her to train in hopes of becoming more than a SHIELD agent, then she wasn't going to question it. Especially if she was able to train with the Black Widow herself. After training with Natasha for the past three months, Autumn got her first mission and was going solo.

And she was ready.

* * *

Autumn landed swiftly on the deck of the Lemurian Star but had missed her landing point by a good fifty yards.

"Crap...way to go, Autumn. First mission and you're already messing up," she cursed quietly to herself.

She quickly got rid of her parachute and sought cover. Fifty yards normally wouldn't be an issue, but on a ship full of armed bad guys walking around? Yeah, it was a problem.

Autumn quickly and discreetly made her way to the ship's operation room. It took a few minutes and longer than she expected to successfully avoid being seen, but she had managed and made her way into the operation room, which was thankfully empty. She had originally planned to knock out whoever was in there by electrocuting them. From the intel she previously gathered, there were SHIELD agents being held hostage on the ship and an extraction team would help get them out. She had nothing to do with that mission though. Extracting that intel was her primary focus.

The brunette darted to the one of the middle computers and plugged in the flash drive SHIELD instructed her to use. She immediately went to work and began to extract the intel. But only two minutes into her job, someone came bursting through the door, causing Autumn to throw her hands up.

"Easy there, Pikachu. It's just me," the red head informed.

Autumn felt her mouth open in shock but she quickly collected herself and instead, turned angry.

"Damnit, Nat! I almost electrocuted you!" Autumn whisper/yelled in frustration and put her hands down. "What the hell are you even doing here?"

"Sorry, kid. We have to expedite this process. They know we're here," Natasha informed as she started typing away.

"This is _my_ mission, Nat. Did Fury lose faith in my abilities or something? Is that why you're here?" Autumn groaned in annoyance. She wanted to say a lot more but if "they" knew they were there, it would just be best to shut up for the moment and ask questions later.

"You're doing a wonderful job, Autumn. I just need to get this intel."

Autumn narrowed her eyes at the redhead but when the door all of a sudden burst open, she rose her hands again towards the two men who came toppling in. She gasped when she realized one of them was none other than Captain America himself. She watched as he delivered a hard blow to the other man's face, knocking him out cold.

 _Why is Captain America here? What the hell is going on?_

Obviously, this mission or whatever intel they were extracting was a serious deal and much more bigger than she thought.

"Well, this is awkward," Natasha announced with a smirk, taking only a brief moment to glance at the super soldier.

"What are you doing?" Steve asked as he approached the two women. "Who is she?"

"Backing up the hard drives. It's a good habit to get into. Autumn, this is Steve. Steve, this is Autumn. SHIELD agent," she casually told the man.

"Rumlow needed your help. What the hell are you doing here?"

"Yeah, I was wondering the same thing," Autumn finally spoke.

Steve briefly looked at the smaller woman, who seemingly looked angry herself, not to mention young, before turning his attention back to what Natasha was doing.

"You're saving SHIELD intel," the Captain observed.

"Whatever I can get my hands on."

"Our mission was to rescue hostages-"

"No, that's your mission," Natasha quipped. Once the files were successfully extracted, she pulled the hard drive out and smirked at the man. "And you've done it beautifully."

Steve narrowed his eyes and forcefully grabbed her arm, stopping her as she attempted to walk away.

"You just jeopardized this whole operation."

"I think that's overstating things."

"Well I had everything under control here until you came along," Autumn glared at the woman. Nothing was making sense. But her attention was quickly averted when she saw the other man get up and toss a grenade in their direction. "Look out!"

Steve deflected the grenade with his shield but it was still too close to them. Autumn attempted to electrocute the grenade but missed her target by only a few inches. She gasped when Steve forcefully grabbed her and jumped over the tables. She heard the sound of a gun shot and glass breaking right before the grenade went off. She clutched onto Steve as tight as she could and shut her eyes as he attempted to carry them away to safety.

She and Steve landed with a roll but Steve was able to recover quickly than she was and dragged her with him to seek cover behind the wall.

"What the hell..." Autumn groaned, her ears ringing loudly.

Steve peeked over the wall to see if they were clear and let out a grunt as he collapsed beside the brunette. He looked down at the woman and saw that a piece of glass was sticking out of her right temple. Nothing huge, but it was causing a lot of bleeding. He quickly cupped her face, catching her off guard.

"Hey!" Autumn snapped and tried to push him away.

"Hold still," he firmly ordered.

Autumn got a good look at the man's face. Despite the situation, she couldn't help but find his blue eyes so captivating. Steve carefully removed the glass and placed her hand over her wound.

"Keep pressure on it."

"Okay...that one's on me," Natasha admitted while gasping for air.

"You're damn right," the soldier angrily agreed as he got up and took off.

Natasha turned to look at Autumn, who looked more than discontent herself.

"Don't look at me like that, Carmichael."

"I think I have every right to give you whatever look I want," Autumn said, challenging her mentor.

In any other instance, Natasha would choke slam anyone who would talk to her like that. But this was her mentee and she did have some spunk, which she could appreciate.

"I'll tell you once we get off this ship."

Natasha held out her arm and helped the smaller woman up.

"This isn't how I imagined my first mission going."

"Trust me, that's what everyone says that on their first mission."

* * *

 **Hope you all enjoyed. I appreciate reviews and constructive criticism but please, no flames. Let me know what you think!**

 **Till next time. :)**


	2. Compartmentalization

**Hey guys. First off, let me start off by saying THANK YOU to everyone who reviewed, favorited and/or followed this story. 15 followers after only 1 chapter? I'm speechless. Like, wow. I seriously didn't expect so much feed back. You guys are awesome. Because of the awesome feedback, I decided to post the second chapter ahead of schedule!**

 **So just a heads up, we're going to go through the movies for the most part but don't be surprised if I venture off and do something a little different. I will twist the plot line however I see fit to ensure that this story is portrayed the way I want it.**

 **Also, this chapter doesn't contain much other than bantering between Autumn and Natasha as well as some background on Autumn. So don't be mad. I promise there will be more action and more Steve later! ;)**

 **Last but not least, I want to give a special shout out to those who reviewed!**

 **stellarstarlet:** yes, another story! you know I love Pietro but I love Steve just as much! I can't help but write another story. =) thank you for your kind words as always and thank you soooo much for always showing your support!

 **JediDragonRider22:** I'm glad you think so. and I will! =)

 **Guest:** thank you! =)

 **BarbyChan4ever:** I'm super happy to know you like my OC. it's only been one chapter so for you to say that is absolutely crazy (in a good way) and amazing to me. Thank you! =)

* * *

"I can't tell you."

Autumn was completely dumbfounded. And annoyed. And angry. That very comment alone irritated her beyond belief and she wanted so bad to let out a string of nasty curse words at her mentor. But the brunette bit her tongue. Cussing was probably not the best way to get any information out of the Russian spy. The only thing she would get out of cussing at her would be a good ass whooping.

Instead, she sighed, closed her eyes, and calmly collected herself.

But that only lasted for two seconds. Then she exploded.

"What do you freaking mean you can't tell me?! You told me once we were off the damn ship you'd tell me!"

Natasha was completely unfazed by her sudden outburst. She gave her mentee a sharp look before turning her attention back to her phone.

"I lied," was all she said.

Autumn could feel her blood boiling. How could Natasha be so calm and cool about everything? Only several hours ago did they almost get blown to bits by a grenade. Not to mention Captain America himself appearing out of no where in the middle of HER first mission. A mission that she wasn't able to see through for herself. And for the love of all that was good, she wanted to know why.

She had waited nine damn hours after deboarding the Lemurian Star to find out why. Natasha had suggested Autumn's tiny apartment so they could talk in private. And now that they were here, she wasn't going to tell her?

"So you made me wait several hours in anticipation, take me to my place so we can speak in private...and not even tell me?"

Autumn's eyebrow started to literally twitch in annoyance at her friend. Natasha sat poised on her chair, one leg crossed over the other as she clicked and scrolled through her phone.

Oh, how she wanted to throw that phone against the wall.

"I just wanted to make sure you got home alright."

"You just wanted to..." Autumn trailed off, stopping herself before she lost her freaking mind. "Look, I know SHIELD is all super secret squirrel and what not, but are you really going to leave me in the dark like this? You're seriously not going to tell me why you took over my mission and why Captain America was there? I just want to know what the hell is going on. Something. Anything?"

Natasha gave her younger friend a sinister smirk.

"This is torture," Autumn threw her hands up in the air and collapsed on her couch. "I'm going to be left in the dark, huh? Is this how it's going to be being a SHIELD agent? Just doing what the big man tells you to do and not know why?"

"Kill the dramatics. No, it won't always be this way," Natasha lectured. "But for this one mission, yes, this is the way it's going to be. Sorry, Autumn."

Autumn didn't even bother to look over at the red head. She knew she was fighting as losing battle so she decided to drop it...for now. But she did have to know one thing.

"Can you at least tell me just one thing, Natasha?"

"Depends. What do you want to know?"

Autumn pursed her lips together and let out a sigh.

"Were you told to take over my mission? Or did you lose confidence in me? And you better answer truthfully."

Natasha let out a short chuckle.

"I was told to. I'll have you know, I was totally against it. As you know, I lost that fight."

The brunette felt the corners of her lips twist into a barely there smile. That was good to know.

"Okay. At least you still have faith in me."

"Don't get carried away now."

Autumn rolled her cerulean blue eyes. Of course. She could never say anything nice without throwing in a sarcastic comment at the end.

"So what now? Debrief?"

"That..." Natasha trailed off as she tapped away at her phone. "Is what I'm trying to figure out right now. I can't seem to get a hold of Hill."

"Okay. Well, while you're doing that, I'm going to get cleaned up."

"I'll be here," Natasha waved without giving her a look.

"I won't get my hopes up."

Autumn walked into her room and threw her bag onto her bed. She decided that for now, she wasn't going to let not knowing what the hell was going on get to her.

 _I'll just find out on my own if I must._

She would just have to find out for herself later. There was a reason why she originally wanted to work in advanced technology department. She had an uncanny understanding of anything and everything to do with technology. Now, she wasn't no Tony Stark, but she was smart enough to graduate M.I.T. at the top of her class...and was smart enough to hack into any system she wanted.

In fact, that's how SHIELD discovered her.

Shortly after her graduation, she challenged herself to hack into SHIELD's secure server, knowing it would be difficult. There was no information she wanted or anything she was curious about. SHIELD wasn't exactly a private organization after the Battle of New York and she simply wanted to see if she could pull off hacking into a well kept, guarded and complex server. And she successfully did...but SHIELD was quick to ID her location and detain her.

SHIELD was actually impressed with her skills that they cut her a deal. And by they, it was really Maria Hill. Autumn was given the option to get charged for hacking into SHIELD's server database and serve a maximum of up to ten years, or attend the academy and later on work for SHIELD's Advanced Technology Department.

She chose the latter.

But upon entering SHIELD academy, her powers were quickly discovered. Fascinated by her powers, or at least that's what she liked to think, Director Fury approached her himself and pushed her towards becoming a field agent instead. It was hard to turn down when you had the director of SHIELD pressuring you, but what fully convinced her to change her path was when Fury had assured her she would be able to control her powers, something she never bothered with since she first found out.

Autumn has had her powers since she was a teenager. At that time, it was no secret that there were people on this earth who possessed different powers, but it also wasn't as accepting as it was today. So she kept it to herself and her family since the beginning.

Thankfully, it was discovered in secret. Well, somewhat. And it wasn't even a cool story. It was pretty lame. She felt pretty stupid when she had to explain it to the SHIELD agent who was doing her interview. At the age of 14, Autumn had seen a spider crawling towards her. Having an extreme fear of spiders, she screamed like hell and put her arms across her face in an 'x' formation. A jolt of electricity shot out and smited the poor spider. And also completely destroyed the kitchen sink. She had a difficult time explaining that one to her parents but long story short, that was how they found out. They didn't treat her any different but they did tend to invest in more rubber made items after that moment.

Aside from being gifted with powers out of no where, Autumn had a very simple and good life. She had two loving parents, three older sisters (with her as the youngest of the bunch), grew up in a good home, had a good education and grew up with good friends. It was just good...but that wasn't enough for her. She wanted more. Which is what drove her into her hobby of everything technology. It was exciting to her and she made an effort to understanding everything about it. The best part of technology for Autumn was the constant advancements and innovativeness of it all. And the bestest part? Hacking into computer servers. She loved the crap out of it.

Autumn quickly showered and changed into dark blue jeans, a black tank top and a form fitting zip up olive green sweater. Next, she braided her long brown hair into a single french braid that fell just past her mid back. She absolutely hated her natural wavy hair and made sure it was always pinned away or pulled back. When she looked at herself in the mirror, she realized she still had a band-aid clinging to her temple. Rolling her eyes, she pried off the band-aid and saw only a small line where the glass broke her skin.

Then she remembered who pulled that glass out. Captain America. Whoever thought she would get the chance to meet the one and only Steve Rogers? Sure, her mentor was the Black Widow herself and worked with the man and yeah, the Avengers were affiliated with SHIELD. But still, she didn't think she would ever actually meet the guy. It was kind of cool despite the circumstances and all.

It was probably the only chance she would ever get to meet the guy but at least she could say she met Captain America during a mission. But she actually couldn't say tell anyone that because this mission was completely confidential. Damnit.

Autumn sighed and let her shoulders slump. As she looked herself over in the mirror, she remembered how Natasha had recently teased her about her looks.

"I look normal for my age," she said out loud to herself, though her statement didn't sound convincing at all.

Okay, maybe there was some truth in what Natasha said. Autumn was often told that she still looked like she was in her early twenties. She would constantly get weird looks by other SHIELD agents who didn't know her too.

It really didn't help either that her round blue eyes held this permanent look of innocence and curiosity. Or the fact that she had slightly pointed ears. And she was on the smaller side. No, she wasn't no Natasha Romanoff with a killer hourglass figure and a beautiful face. She was...well, normal. Not ugly but not this beautiful bombshell either. And she was okay with that. She had no one to impress and it's not like guys went after her.

She straightened out her shoulders and smiled.

"I look bomb," she told herself, not giving a damn about what other people thought. But her moment was short lived when Natasha bursted through the door, causing her to jump and turn around. "What the hell?"

"I need your car."

"What the hell for?" Autumn questioned. She immediately wished she hadn't. Natasha had one hell of a serious look on her face. Somethig was seriously wrong.

"Give me your damn keys," Natasha demanded.

She almost looked frantic, which was really out of character for her.

"Calm down, I'll drive you."

"It's best you stay here."

"No, I'll take you. You're not driving my car when you're like..." Autumn held out her hands to Natasha and gestured at her body. "I dunno, like this."

"Carmichael-"

"Where are we going?" Autumn asked and grabbed her keys.

Natasha glared daggers at the girl but she couldn't fault her for her persuasiveness. She was almost like a mini her. Except she talked excessively.

"Hospital. Fury's been shot."

Autumn froze in her tracks. Had she heard that right? Director Fury was shot? By who? Why? But she knew those questions would just have to be answered later.

"Oh my god...okay, let's go."

* * *

 **So if you haven't figured it out by now, Autumn's personality is slightly awkward and a bit weird. She talks excessively but is very smart when it comes to doing what she loves. I've never written a character like her before now. I've always wanted to write a spunky OC, lol.**

 **Give me four reviews letting me know what you think of this story so far and what you'd like to see and I'll update early instead of waiting a whole week. :) I promise I'm not one of those who write solely for reviews, but I seriously want to know what my readers think, expect and want. :)**

 **By the way, if you like Pietro/OC stories, check out my other story titled "Breaking Boundries". =)**


	3. Who To Trust?

**Hey guys! Again, a big thank you to all who followed, favorited or reviewed my story!**

 **I updated early because this is another slow chapter and I really want to start moving things along. Please understand that these slow chapters need to happen before we can get into all the action. Stay with me, I promise it'll get better!**

 **Aaaaand a special shout out to all who reviewed! Four reviews and I'll update early. :)**

 **Sabina Mohammad:** oh yay! thank you and I will! I plan on updating weekly but I tend to update early if I'm getting good feedback. :)

 **stellarstarlet** **:** thank you! and I know! I think you're going to like when they finally start interacting with one another. :)

 **kiroroblue** : I definitely will! already have the next few chapters written. :) thank you for reviewing!

* * *

Natasha all of a sudden jumped out the car, forcing Autumn to hit her brakes and stop next to a few cop cars outside of the hospital. Thankfully she wasn't driving too fast.

Which is probably why Natasha jumped out.

"Natasha! Wait!"

Autumn groaned in frustration and hastily ripped out her keys from the ignition. She had to sprint in order to keep up with Natasha's swift speed. But she needed to follow her and had no choice but to keep up or get lost. Natasha already seemed to know where she was going and after several turns and running up a few flights of stairs, Natasha bursted through a set of swinging doors and finally found Director Fury.

Autumn went wide eyed at the scene taking place behind the window. That was definitely Director Fury unconscious on the table. It was a bloody mess and there was a team already tending to his wounds.

She glanced over at Natasha and that's when she noticed another man was there. When he turned his face to look at her, it was only then she realized it was Captain America. He looked different in civilian clothing, which is why she didn't notice at first glance. The man stared at her for only a second, his face void of emotion, before turning his attention back to the scene in front of him.

"Is he going to make it?" Natasha asked almost inaudibly.

"I don't know," he quietly answered.

"Tell me about the shooter."

"He's fast. Strong. Had a metal arm."

Through the reflection of the window, Autumn saw Natasha's face twist into a look of horror.

 _Metal arm? Robot?_ Autumn wondered to herself. It seemed like Natasha maybe knew who Steve was talking about.

"Ballistics?"

"Three slugs. No rifling. Completely untraceable," Agent Hill supplied as she took her place to the left of Autumn.

Autumn barely glanced at the woman who had spared her from serving jail time. Agent Maria Hill.

"Soviet-made."

Agent Hill turned to look at Natasha.

"Yes," she concurred.

"He's in V-tach," one of the male nurses announced.

Autumn snapped her head back to the scene taking place in front of her.

"Crash cart coming in!" Another nurse yelled.

"Nurse! Help me with the drape!" The head doctor ordered.

"BP's dropping!" Informed the male nurse.

"Defibrillator!" The doctor yelled. "I want you to charge him at 100."

"Don't do this to me, Nick," Natasha whispered.

Autumn watched in horror as they charged the defibrillator. Then she heard a sparking noise.

...but that wasn't coming the medical staff.

It was coming from her hands.

"If you can't control your powers then step away," Agent Hill told the younger agent.

Autumn glanced down at her hands. They were sparking but ever so slightly. It sometimes happened when she lost control of her emotions.

Watching the scene play out in front of her had caused her heart to race. She hadn't known the director like Natasha had, but Nick meant a great deal to her. He personally approached her himself and told her how he saw potential in her. Ever since that moment, she never stopped pushing herself to be the best agent she could be.

And now the man was dying in front of her.

Autumn then wondered if this was all tied together? So much shit has happened in the last two days and she found herself thinking that there was no way it could be a coincidence. Something was going down and she had a feeling it was only going to get worse.

"No pulse," she heard the male nurse say.

"Okay, 200, please," the doctor ordered again.

"Stand back! Three, two, one...clear!"

"Get me epinephrine! Pulse?"

"Negative."

"Don't do this to me, Nick. Don't do this to me," Natasha whispered again.

"What's the time?" The doctor asked, sounding defeated.

"1:03, Doctor," the female nurse answered.

"Time of death, 1:03," the doctor announced.

Autumn stepped away and faced the opposite wall. She took a few deep breaths to try and keep her emotions at bay. For the first time ever in her life, she had watched someone die. Someone she knew. A man who meant a great deal to everyone standing in that room.

The young agent let out a breath and saw someone standing still at the corner of her eye. She ever so slightly shifted her attention to that person and saw that it was Steve. He was looking at something in his hand.

 _Is that the...?_

There was no doubt in her mind that it was. But why did Steve have it? Autumn watched the man walk away and wondered if she should bring it up to Natasha. But after taking one look at her, she decided it was best to wait.

"Natasha...?" She hesitantly reached out to her friend and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. She was somewhat relieved when she didn't jerk herself away, which is what she was expecting.

"I...I'm going to stick around. You can wait in the waiting room. I'll let you know when we're leaving," she said without looking at her.

"Okay," Autumn agreed and watched her friend walk off. She would probably want some personal time with Director Fury once they were done cleaning him up.

Autumn made her way to the waiting room and immediately spotted the super soldier sitting in the corner.

It was quiet. But it wouldn't be like this for long. There was no doubt in her mind that SHIELD would be here soon. Right now it was the calm before the storm.

She pondered if she should even join the man. He sat leaning forward with his head on his hand and seemed to be deep in thought. He probably wanted to be alone.

Pursing her lips together, she decided she wanted some coffee first and traced her way back to the coffee shop she saw on the way to the waiting room.

"One coffee please...actually, make that two. Thank you," Autumn thanked as she paid the cashier. Maybe Steve wouldn't mind a small gesture.

She made her way back to the waiting room and saw that Steve was still sitting there in the same exact position. Autumn didn't know how to approach the Captain and for the millionth time even wondered if she should. Then, she just decided to go for it.

"Captain Rogers?" Autumn called out softly, not wanting to catch him off guard.

Steve lifted his head from his hand and stared blankly at the woman for a moment before realizing who she was.

"Agent...Autumn, was it?" Steve questioned, looking her over.

So he did remember her.

"Agent Carmichael. Autumn is my first name. Thought you could use some coffee," Autumn held out the small cup towards Steve.

The Captain eyed the cup before taking it. He forced a small smile at her.

"Thank you. And you can call me Steve."

"You're welcome. And don't mind me. I know you don't want to be bothered right now. Just thought you could use a pick-me-up," Autumn explained, hoping he didn't think she was weird.

"I appreciate it. Thank you, Autumn," he said.

"You're welcome."

Autumn took her place a few seats away from Steve and let out a sigh. She hadn't realized how achy and tired she had been until she sat down. The past two days for her had been non-stop and the last few moments alone were insane. The brunette frowned as she sat back. Her mind was racing with too many thoughts and questions and she wanted them all answered.

Then another thought dawned on her. Why was Steve here in the first place? When she glanced over at him again, she saw dirt marks on his clothing and slight wear and tear.

 _Was he with Director Fury when he got shot?_

Something was off. She already knew Steve had the hard drive. Director Fury was just shot. Fury had also tasked her with extracting intel using that same hard drive. Autumn knew this was all tied together. It had to be. But how?

Autumn took a sip of her coffee as she pondered. Things were hardly making sense right now but she wasn't going to settle until she had some answers.

* * *

"Wake up."

Autumn's cerulean blue eyes fluttered open.

"Autumn," someone shook her gently. "You should get out of here. SHIELD is here."

Autumn let out a small groan as she stood up. She rubbed her eyes and saw Steve standing in front of her. It was then she realized how tall she was compared to her. It was quite a difference with him standing at 6'2 and herself at 5'2.

"How long was I out?" She asked the man.

"Twenty minutes. Come on, let's find Romanoff," he told her.

Autumn followed Steve until they found Natasha, who was grieving over Fury's dead body. Autumn took her place by Steve, not wanting to interrupt. She knew the man meant more to Natasha more than anyone else. Maybe meant even more than Clint, who she had only met once.

"I need to take him," Agent Hill said quietly as she entered the room and took her place on the opposite side of Steve.

A few moments later, Steve approached Natasha.

"Natasha."

Natasha placed her hand on Fury's head and kept it there for a few seconds. Then she all of a sudden darted out of the room.

"Natasha?" Autumn called out and followed after her mentor. "Wait!"

"Natasha!" Steve quickly caught up to the two women.

The Black Widow furiously turned around and glared at the man.

"What was Fury doing in your apartment?" She questioned.

Autumn turned to look at Steve. _Fury was in his apartment?_

Steve let out a sigh and threw his hands up.

"I don't know."

"Cap, they want you back at SHIELD," one of the men called out.

"Yeah, give me a second," Steve told him.

"They want you now," the man harshly told him.

Steve turned to look at him and stared him down for a moment.

"Okay," answered Steve.

"You're a terrible liar," Natasha told Steve when he turned to look back at her.

Autumn couldn't help but agree with Natasha. It didn't also help that she knew Steve had the thumb drive from the Lemurian Star. Fury must have given it to him. It obviously couldn't have been Natasha and Fury was apparently at his apartment. That's where the exchange had to happen. He was hiding something and even if it wasn't obvious to everyone else, she already saw the proof. And she had to tell Natasha. Just not here.

Natasha turned on her heel and marched out of the hallway. Autumn was damn tired of following the red head around like she was her little puppy but let out a sigh and sucked it up. If she stuck around, maybe things would start to make sense. She had been determined from the beginning to make sense of everything happening.

She turned back to glance at Steve and thought she saw him retracting his hand from the vending machine? What the hell?

Autumn threw her hood on and quickly caught up to Natasha. Now was probably a good time to tell her about the thumb drive...

* * *

 **I can't wait to see this story pick up. I've already gotten a few chapters typed up and let me tell you, I really enjoy writing Steve, Autumn and Natasha together. And just wait till I throw Sam in there. :)**

 **Tell you what - give me four reviews letting me know what you think of this story so far and what you'd like to see and I'll update early instead of waiting a whole week. :)**


	4. Trio Goes Undercover

**I'm so mad. I thought TODAY was Sunday so I was like, "yay, I get to update!" Come to find out, it's Monday. THEN, I said I would update early if I received four reviews on the last chapter. Apparently my fourth review was received on June 29th...but I didn't get an e-mail notifying me like I always do! *sigh***

 **This chapter is a bit long because it was difficult for me to find a place to stop. If I stopped it too early, it would be uneventful and boring. I just hope it's not too long. Don't worry, things will start to pick up next chapter. :)**

 **Thank you to all those who reviewed!**

 **stellarstarlet:** haha thank you! I'll try and update this story every week or so.

 **Guest1989:** Glad you do! And I will. :)

 **BarbyChan4ever:** thank you for reviewing not only once, but twice. :) sooooo happy you love their interactions!

 **kiroroblue** : I will! Thanks for reviewing!

 **Remember, five reviews and I'll do an early update! :D**

* * *

Dressed in civilian attire and sporting a pair of freakishly ugly shoes, Steve discreetly walked through the hospital to retrieve the thumb drive he had hidden in the vending machine. Steve reached the vending machine and peered inside, only to find that the whole entire selection of bubble gum and the thumb drive were all gone.

Before he even had time to react, Natasha appeared in the reflection of the vending machine window behind him. She made eye contact with him through the vending machine window before purposefully smacking on the gum she was chewing and then blowing a bubble. It was then he knew she had the thumb drive.

Steve could feel himself losing his patience. He didn't have time for this. Not to mention the fact that he didn't know if he could trust her with the thumb drive. He forcefully pushed her into the room right across the hall and out of sight.

"Where is it?" He demanded as he threw down his hood.

"Safe."

"Do better."

"Where did you get it?" Natasha asked.

"Why would I tell you?" Steve countered, remembering what Fury told him.

 _Trust no one._

But Natasha put two and two together.

"Fury gave it to you," she accused. "Why?"

"What's on it?" Steve completely ignored her question.

"I don't know," Natasha answered truthfully.

Steve lightly slammed her against the wall. He wanted answers and he wanted them now.

"Stop lying," he said through gritted teeth.

"I only act like I know everything, Rogers."

"I bet you knew Fury hired the pirates, didn't you?"

"Well, it makes sense. The ship was dirty, Fury needed a way in, so do you."

"I'm not gonna ask you again," Steve threatened.

"I know who killed Fury..." Natasha started to say. "Most of the intelligence community doesn't believe he exists. The ones who do call him the Winter Soldier. He's credited with over two dozen assassinations in the last fifty years."

"So he's a ghost story."

"Five years ago, I was escorting a nuclear engineer out of Iran and somebody shot out my tires near Odessa. We lost control, went straight over a cliff. I pulled us out, but the Winter Soldier was there. I was covering my engineer, so he shot him, straight through me."

Natasha pulled up her shirt, revealing a scar on her lower left abdomen.

"Soviet slug, no rifling. Bye bye, bikinis."

"Yeah, I bet you look terrible in them now," Steve half joked.

"Going after him is a dead end. I know, I've tried."

Natasha pulled out the thumb drive and held it in front of their faces. Steve eyed her before taking it and putting it in his pocket.

"Let's find out what the ghost wants."

"That was pretty intense," Autumn blurted from her where she was hiding. She had casually watched the whole thing while sitting Indian style on a small table. "Remind me never to get on your bad side, Rogers."

Steve turned his attention just in time to see her pop out from the darkness. She must be damn good at staying out of sight if he didn't even know she was there.

"What is she doing here?" Steve asked Natasha.

Autumn rolled her eyes at his tone. She knew he had been through hell today, but it didn't mean she took kindly to it.

"Or you could ask me, you know," Autumn told him while waving her hand.

"She's useful, I promise," Natasha smirked.

"I'm more than that," Autumn defended.

"SHIELD is looking for me. I don't want you getting dragged into all this," Steve told her. "It's going to be difficult being on the run with Natasha, and even more difficult with two."

Autumn bit her lip. She knew he wasn't being mean, he was just being truthful and she could honestly understand his point.

But he didn't know her. And he didn't know what she was capable of. Yet.

"Either you let me come along, or I can go back SHIELD and help them hunt you down, which I don't want to do."

"SHIELD did a mass recall of all agents, Steve. We can't go back," Natasha informed.

Steve looked Autumn over. He surely wasn't one to judge size; he was small at one point too. But something about her looked so...off. She looked so young and inexperienced.

Autumn could feel her eye switching as Steve silently judged her.

"I have the ability to conduct electricity. I can electrocute anything by simply touching it and I can shoot it out too. I'm also computer savvy so if it's intel you're trying to find, I'm your girl. And I'm coming along."

Steve then remembered how Autumn tried to destroy the grenade Batroc had thrown at them. He remembered a jolt of electricity leaving her hands. It all happened so quick he had almost forgotten about her abilities.

"Paxton's Mall is three miles away and it has an Apple Store. We can find out what's on this hard drive there," Natasha informed.

Steve said nothing and stayed silent for a few moments. He seemed as if he were having a mental battle with himself. Then after a moment, he let out a sigh.

"Okay, then. Let's go, ladies."

* * *

First rule of going on the run is, don't run, walk," Natasha explained quietly.

"If I run in these shoes, they're gonna fall off," told Steve.

"You need a change of shoes, sir," Autumn told the man, grimacing at his shoes. "Where did you get those?"

"Stole them."

"Yikes."

The trio walked into the Mac store and walked up to one of their computers.

Steve pulled out the thumb drive and gave it to Natasha.

"This drive has a level six homing program so as soon as we boot up, SHIELD will know exactly where we are," she warned.

"How much time do we have?" Steve asked.

"Should be about nine minutes," Autumn supplied.

Natasha quickly popped in the thumb drive into the MacBook Pro.

"Starting...now," Natasha confirmed. "...Fury was right about that ship, somebody's trying to hide something. This drive is protected by some sort of AI, it keeps rewriting itself to counter my commands."

"Can you override it?" Steve hurriedly asked.

"The person who developed this is slightly smarter than me. Slightly."

"And that's where I come in," Autumn announced and took over the laptop.

Natasha shot an aggravated look at her friend but let her do her thing.

"I'm going to try and run a tracer. This is a program that SHIELD developed to track hostile malware so if we can't read the file, then maybe we can try and see where it came from," Autumn explained.

"Can I help you guys with anything?" An Apple employee asked as he walked up to the trio.

"Oh, no. My friend here was just helping me look up some honeymoon destinations for me and my fiancé here," Natasha cheerfully explained to the man and latched onto Steve's arm.

"Right! We're getting married." Steve played along, though it was obvious he was feeling awkward. At least to Autumn, it was.

"And I'm the Maid of Honor!" Autumn happily played along, flashing the man an overexcited smile.

"Congratulations. Where you guys thinking of going?" The employee asked.

Steve looks at the monitor and sees the signal was traced to somewhere in New Jersey.

"New Jersey," Steve quickly muttered.

Autumn raised an eyebrow as she continued to type away. _Where the hell did Steve get his training?_

"Oh."

Then, the employee looks at Steve for a moment, eyeing him suspiciously.

For a moment there, Steve thought the man may have figured out who he was.

"I have the same exact glasses," the man finally pointed out.

"Wow, you two are practically twins," Natasha smirked at the two.

"Yeah, I wish...specimen," the employee takes a step back and motions at Steve. "Uhh, if you guys need anything, I've been Aaron," the man said before awkwardly stepping away.

"Where the hell did you get your training, Cap? Being undercover is basic 101 at the academy," Autumn informed Steve, taking a moment to glance up at the man.

"I'm not a spy, Autumn. And I was around before SHIELD ever came to be, so take it easy," Steve explained as a matter-of-factly.

"Fine. Point taken."

"You said nine minutes, come on."

"No worries...okay, got it. Do you know this place?" Autumn could only assume he did from the way Steve was staring at the screen.

"I used to. Let's go."

Autumn quickly pulled out the thumb drive and the trio made their way out of the store. As soon as the left the Mac Store, she saw several SHIELD agents, all dressed in black attire. Members of the STRIKE team.

"Standard tac-team. Two behind, two across, two coming straight at us. If they see us, I'll engage, you hit the south escalator to the metro," Steve explained, getting ready to go into attack mode.

"Shut up, put your arm around me and laugh at something I said," Natasha commanded.

"What?"

"Do it."

Steve was quick to follow her orders and did just as she said. When Steve turned his head, he saw that they had successfully evaded the two agents in front of them.

Even though Autumn was technically recalled to SHIELD and unaccounted for, she wasn't a well-known agent and only Director Fury knew she trained directly under Natasha. Unless SHIELD remembered her being at the hospital, she wasn't a familiar face and hopefully it would be easy for her to remain under cover.

Steve, Autumn and Natasha started to head down on the escalator. Natasha was in front of Steve and Autumn, who stood side by side. She was the first to notice Rumlow on the escalators next to them going up and quickly turned around to face them.

"Kiss each other."

"What?" Steve and Autumn questioned at the same time.

"Rumlow is about to pass us. Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable."

"Yes, they do," Steve told the red head.

Autumn quickly realized who Natasha spotted on the opposite escalator going up. It was the same man she saw earlier from the hospital.

Not wanting to be caught, Autumn grabbed Steve's shirt and pulled him down for a kiss. His lips crashed onto hers but at least he was quick to settle into the kiss without being awkward. Well, too awkward.

Even she had to admit, her heart damn near skipped a beat. She knew it meant nothing, but never in a million years would she ever imagine kissing Steve Rogers. She could taste the coffee she gave him earlier and she could feel how warm and smooth his lips were.

When she pulled away, she saw a slight hint of pink on his cheeks and his eyes seemed a slightly unfocused as he looked at her.

Was he blushing?

Never mind him, she was sure she was blushing too.

Natasha cleared her throat and both Steve and Autumn looked away from each other.

"Still uncomfortable?" Natasha sarcastically asked the duo.

"It's not exactly the word I would use," Steve told her.

"It's the word I would use," Autumn chimed in. "I don't think I've kissed someone since high school."

"And that's probably still not as long as Cap here," Natasha smirked.

"Let's just please get out of here," Autumn sighed and led them out of the mall.

"I think you got her all riled up," Natasha whispered to Steve.

Steve shoved his hands in his pocket and kept his head down.

"She's the one who kissed me," Steve muttered.

He hardly remembered the kiss since it happened so fast. But what he did remember was how soft her lips were and the scent of her hair. Even though it was pulled up into a ponytail, he could still smell her apple scented shampoo. It felt like it had been forever since he last kissed a woman. And it had been. That was literally a lifetime ago.

Truthfully, he had not expected her to do that. But he was thankful she did or otherwise there may have been a chance Rumlow would have caught them all.

* * *

"So where did Captain America learn how to steal a car?" Natasha asked.

After exiting the mall, Steve, Autumn and Natasha ran to a nearby restaurant, stole a SUV, and now the three were on their way to New Jersey.

"Nazi Germany," Steve answered, his voice laced with irritation. "And we're borrowing. Take your feet off the dash."

"You can say stealing, Steve, it's okay," Autumn muttered sarcastically to the man. "I think we all know this car isn't going to be returned to it's rightful owner."

"Alright," Natasha turned in her seat to face the Captain. "I have a question for you, which you do not have to answer. But I feel if you don't answer it though, you're kind of answering it, you know?"

"What?" Steve gave an exasperated sigh.

"Was that your first kiss since 1945?"

Autumn's head snapped up in their direction. She could feel her cheeks reddening again.

"Why would you ask that?"

"Well, you looked like an innocent little boy after she kissed you."

"Come on, guys," Autumn groaned in frustration and slapped her arm over her eyes. "Can we not talk about this? I'm just trying to enjoy our time while we're not being chased by SHIELD."

"That bad, huh?" Steve asked the younger agent.

"I'm not commenting, Steve. I hardly remember the damn kiss," Autumn retorted and crossed her arms in defense.

"Well, you both are making it sound like I'm a bad kisser."

"I didn't say that at all!"

"It kind of sounds like that's what you're saying."

"Wow, someone's defensive," Autumn scoffed.

Autumn, though embarrassed, was also a little amused at his reaction. Steve was actually getting defensive over his kissing skills.

"Nobody special though?" Natasha asked, changing the tune of the conversation.

"Believe it or not, it's kind of hard to find someone with shared life experience," Steve admitted with a sigh.

"That's alright, you just make something up," Natasha suggested.

"What, like you?"

"I don't know. The truth is a matter of circumstances, it's not all things to all people all the time. And neither am I."

"I don't know, Nat. The truth always matters to me," Autumn chimed in.

She knew Natasha's life was a complicated one. She had a past before she joined SHIELD and even after she had joined, she spent much of her time as a spy and has accumulated many identities and covers throughout the years. She had a complicated life and it would make sense as to why she would make up or hide certain truths about herself.

"That's a tough way to live," Steve told the red head.

"It's a good way not to die, though," said Natasha.

"You know, it's kind of hard to trust someone when you don't know who that someone really is."

"Yeah. Who do you want me to be?"

"How about a friend?"

"Well, there's a chance you might be in the wrong business, Rogers."

Autumn stayed silent. She hadn't been around SHIELD too long and aside from a failed mission and a few months training under Natasha, she wasn't too experienced. She certainly had her opinions but maybe it was just better left unsaid. She hadn't been around the block like Steve or Natasha.

Another hour or so passed and it was just after sunset when they pulled up to an abandoned military base.

"The file came from these coordinates," informed Natasha as she looked at her phone.

"So did I," answered Steve. "This camp is where I was trained."

"Wow..." Autumn whispered, looking around and taking in her surroundings. "I know it's abandoned and all, but has it changed much?"

"A little."

Autumn watched as Steve momentarily paused, his eyes fixated on nothing in particular.

"Flashback?"

"Yeah," Steve answered, turning to smile at her. "Something like that."

"This is a dead end. Zero heat signature, zero waves, not even radio. Whoever wrote the file must have used a router to throw people off," says Natasha.

Autumn noticed Steve's eyes again were fixated on one of the buildings.

"Steve, what are you looking at?" Autumn approached the man and asked.

"This building is in the wrong place," Steve informed and walked over to what looked like an ammunition supply point. "Army regulations forbid storing ammunition within five hundred yards from the barracks."

Steve used his shield to break the door lock and entered, followed by Autumn and Natasha.

They cautiously walked inside, scanning every area and corner for threats.

"Still no heat signatures. We should be good," Natasha assured as she flipped a nearly light switch.

"Yet, I'm still freaked out," Autumn admitted.

"This is SHIELD," Natasha pointed out.

Autumn saw several desks and of course SHIELD's emblem, confirming Natasha's accusation.

"Maybe where it started," told Steve.

They enter a room and find old framed photos of familiar faces.

"There's Stark's father," Natasha gestured over to the man. "Who's the girl?"

Autumn knew every single one of them. She learned who the founding agents of SHIELD were at the academy. She knew Natasha knew as well so why would we ask that?

From the way Steve was staring at the photo, it seemed like he very well knew who she was.

Steve doesn't reply and instead walks off further down the room. He stops in front of a massive book shelf.

"If you're already working in a secret office..." Steve pushes the shelf open to reveal an elevator behind it. "Why do you need to hide the elevator?"

"Very intuitive," Autumn complimented. "Yeah, I don't trust elevators."

"Fine. You can wait out here by yourself while Romanoff and I head down," Steve suggested.

"Uh, no thank you," Autumn grimaced. "I'd rather stick with both sets of guns."

They go down the elevator which takes them to a room with old looking computers.

"This can't be the data-point," Natasha observed. "This technology is ancient."

"Hey Nat, look," Autumn pointed to a flash drive port. "Try it out."

Natasha places the drive into the port.

"Initiate system?" The computer asks in a dull, robotic voice.

"I have a bad feeling guys..." Autumn trailed off while taking in all her surroundings.

"Y-E-S, spells yes," Natasha says while typing. The Black Widow smiles as the old computer starts to whir and crank up. "...Shall we play a game?"

Natasha looks deviously at Steve, but doesn't gain a reaction from him.

"It's from a movie that-"

"Yeah, I saw it," Steve informed.

The computer turns on and a photo of Steve's SHIELD ID pops on the screen.

"Rogers, Steven Grant. Born, 1918," an accented voice spoke. A camera pointed in Steve's direction as if it were studying him.

Then, the camera pointed to Natasha and her SHIELD ID appeared on the screen.

"Romanov, Natalia Alianova. Born, 1984."

The camera pointed to Autumn and her ID appeared on the screen. Steve didn't miss the date the photo was taken. It was 2014. Earlier this year.

"Carmichael, Autumn Annette. Born 1988."

"I'm about to blow this thing to bits, guys. This is way too freaky..." Autumn half joked. She loved technology and had an undying passion for understanding it, but talking computers was a little outside of her comfort zone.

"It's some kind of recording," Natasha stated.

"I don't know, Nat..." Autumn walked up to the camera and cautiously eyed the thing. From the way the camera and computers were functioning, it almost seemed alive.

"I am not a recording, Fraulein. I may not be the man I was when the Captain took me prisoner in 1945..."

The computer screen showed a photo of an odd looking man with round glasses.

"Who is that?" Autumn asked.

Steve was glaring at the photo on the computer screen. It seemed like Steve knew exactly who he was.

"Do you know this thing?" Natasha questioned.

"Arnim Zola was a German scientist who worked for the Red Skull. He's been dead for years," Steve explained.

"First correction, I am Swiss. Second, look around you. I have never been more alive. In 1972, I received a terminal diagnosis. Science could not save my body. My mind, however, that was worth saving. Two hundred thousand feet of data banks. You are standing on my brain," Zola explained.

"How did you get here?" Steve questioned.

"Invited."

"Operation Paperclip after World War II," Natasha supplied. "SHIELD recruited German scientists with strategic values."

"They thought I could help their cause. I also helped my own."

"HYDRA died with the Red Skull," declared Steve.

"Cut off one head, two more shall take its place."

"Prove it," Steve challenged.

"Accessing archive."

The computer screen shows them old footage of the Red Skull and of the original SHIELD founders.

"HYDRA was founded on the belief that humanity could not be trusted with its own freedom. What we did not realize, was that if you try to take that freedom, they resist. The war taught us much. Humanity needed to surrender its freedom willingly. After the war, SHIELD was founded and I was recruited. The new HYDRA grew. A beautiful parasite inside SHIELD. For seventy years, HYDRA has been secretly feeding crisis, reaping war. And when history did not cooperate, history was changed.

Autumn inaudibly gasped. _So SHIELD is really Hydra?_ No, that's not possible. The thought of she herself being affiliated with Hydra made her very bones chill. Hydra was gone. It ended when Steve killed the Red Skull.

"That's impossible, SHIELD would have stopped you," said Natasha.

 **"** Accidents will happen."

The computer screen revealed Howard and Maria Stark. Their deaths were staged as a car accident. Next was a photo of Director Fury, and the photo shown after that was of a tall Caucasian man with blonde hair donned in flight gear. His helmet was cradled in his arm and a smirk adorned his face. He was posed in front of a SHIELD fighter jet. The name on the jet said 'LT. Joesph "Fireball" Carmichael.'

"Dad...?" Steve heard Autumn gasp. He turned to look at her and saw that her eyes had gone completely wide as she stared at the man on the computer screen. "Is that my...why are you showing me this? Did...did he work for SHIELD?"

Or even worse, maybe he worked for Hydra..

Autumn ran closer to the computer screen and put her hands over the photo. She felt her throat go dry when she saw it was in fact her dad. Since when was he ever affiliated with SHIELD? He was a cargo pilot for Windsor Airlines...

"What did you do to him?" Autumn raised her voice at the camera. Her fists were balled in anger and sparks were already starting to fly out from her body.

"Nothing," Zola spoke. "Yet."

The computer screen then showed a photo of her entire family. Her mom, dad, her three older sisters and herself as the youngest. It read, 'Location: KNOWN. Brooklyn, New York.'

"He's just trying to freak you out, Carmichael. Don't let him," Natasha warned.

Truthfully, Natasha had no idea that her father was once a SHIELD pilot. She even did an extensive background check on the girl but nothing like this came up. Natasha had a feeling Fury may have been behind deleting his record. That was really the only explanation if she herself couldn't find it. Seeing that he had a family, it made sense as to why Lt. Carmichael "never existed" within SHIELD. Fury most likely wanted to guarantee his family's safety.

But somehow, Hydra had his files.

"No one is safe. Not even after Director Fury deleted LT. Carmichael's record. We always knew," Zola threatened. "HYDRA created a world so chaotic that humanity is finally ready to sacrifice its freedom to gain its security. Once the purification process is complete, HYDRA's new world order will arise. We won, Captain. Your death amounts to the same as your Life; a zero sum."

Autumn turned her head just in time to watch Steve punch through the computer, smashing the screen and effectively silencing the Swiss scientist.

But only for a moment.

"As I was saying..." Dr. Arnim Zola spoke once again.

"What's on this drive?" Steve demanded.

"Project Insight requires...insight. So I wrote an algorithm."

"What kind of algorithm? What does it do?" Natasha asked.

"The answer to your question is fascinating. Unfortunately, you shall be too dead to hear it."

Suddenly, the doors start to close.

Steve threw his shield in between the closing doors to keep it open but it misses. Autumn sprinted towards the doors and placed her hands on it. Her body lit up as she started to electrocute the door in hopes of frying whatever circuits or system that was keeping it shut. It didn't budge.

"Come on!" Autumn yelled as she increased her power. "I'm not going out, not like this..." She said to herself.

She was determined to get out of here one way or another. She needed to understand what was going on and she needed to see if her family was safe.

"Guys, we got a bogey...incoming short range missile."

"Who fired it?" asked Steve, who was already starting to look for an escape route.

"SHIELD. Fifteen seconds till impact."

"Shit..." Autumn cursed. She too looked around for an escape route but found nothing.

"Admit it, it's better this way. We're both of us...out of time," warned Zola.

Steve spotted an opening in the ground and lifted the barring with Autumn and Natasha's help. It wasn't much of an escape but right now it was their only means of survival.

"Get in!" He yells.

Autumn and Natasha quickly jump into the hole, followed by Steve, who pulls them both in close before holding his SHIELD over their heads.

Then, it happened. The missile hit. Heat, smoke and pressure instantly surrounded them.

Autumn shut her eyes and clung onto Steve and Natasha as the building above them started to collapse. She could hear Steve grunting as he fought with all his might to hold his shield above them.

* * *

 **There you go! Long chapter, but I'm just trying to get to the good stuff sooner.**

 **Hope you enjoyed. How did you guys like it?**

 **Because I made you guys wait an extra day, I'll give you a spoiler for the next chapter...there's a little Steve and Autumn bonding moment you can look forward to. :)**


	5. Sweet Moments

**Hey guys. I'm sorry it's been awhile. Some stuff went down and I haven't been able to bring myself to write anything. Things aren't going so well and I needed to take the time off to focus on some other stuff. I feel bad I went away for awhile, especially after just starting this story and I at least wanted to get something out since it's been almost almost a month and a half since I last updated.** **Please bare with me. I know this isn't my best but like I said, I wanted to get something out!**

 **stellarstarlet: ** Thank you! Well, I'll let you know right now that the vibe you get between Steve/Autumn is right on! Thank you for reviewing. :)

 **kiroroblue: ** ahhh, thank you! Sorry I kept you waiting!

 **kit-kat.21: ** Glad you love it! Thank you for reviewing. :)

* * *

Sam steadied his breathing as he walked into his kitchen. He had just returned from yet another long run. Even though he had been long retired, he still made an effort to exercise every morning to maintain his stamina. He was actually in really great shape, but ever since his encounter with Captain America a few days ago, he started to up his game and push himself harder. He knew it was physically impossible to ever be like Steve Rogers, but still. It was motivation for him to work harder.

He pulled an orange juice carton out of the fridge and was about to take a swig when he heard an unexpected knock on his back door. Sam skeptically approached his door, wondering who the hell would be dropping by at this time. He rarely ever had people over.

Sam opened his blinds and saw Captain America himself, of all people.

Yeah, definitely wasn't expecting that.

He was accompanied by the red-headed woman who picked him up after their run, and another younger looking woman with dark brown hair and dark blue eyes. She was clutching her left rib cage. All three were covered in soot, scrapes, and looked like they had seen better days.

"Hey, man," Sam greeted, unsure of what to say.

"I'm sorry about this," Steve apologized, looking weary. "We need a place to lay low."

"Everyone we know is trying to kill us," Natasha explained.

Sam pauses for a moment, taking a brief moment to glance at the three.

"Not everyone," Sam answers and holds the door open for them.

* * *

Autumn didn't have a spare set of clothes to change into after her shower so she slipped right back into her black tank top, olive green zip up sweater and blue jeans.

"Hey, uh, Autumn?" Sam's voice called out from behind the door as he knocked. "May I come in?"

"Sure," Autumn answered before opening the door. "It's your place."

"Still, didn't want to interrupt anything," he said. "You guys look like you've been through hell."

"Yeah, you can say that again."

"Here," Sam held out and ice pack for her to take. "I saw you clutching your side when you walked in. Figured you might be hurt."

Autumn gratefully took them from Sam's hands. She was able to fully see her injury through the mirror earlier and saw that her left ribcage was starting to bruise and had some cuts and scrapes. Some of the rubble from the explosion had dug into her side. Thankfully it was nothing too serious.

"Thank you so much," she quietly thanked.

"So," Sam started to say while putting his hands on his hips. "How do you know Steve and Natasha? You work with them?"

"Eh, ish. I'm a SHIELD agent and I train directly under Natasha. I didn't really know Steve until...well, just two days ago. I was with Nat when we got the call about the Director's death and went with her to the hospital. Steve was at the hospital with Fury when we arrived...it's a bit of a story..." Autumn trailed off, unsure how much she could trust this guy.

"I suppose you can't fill me in on what's going on? All I know is you were attacked?"

Autumn only shrugged her shoulders.

"It would be best to talk to Steve about the rest. He could go into detail a lot better, I'm sure. But from what we just gathered - Hydra is apparently SHIELD, or at least there are members of Hydra within SHIELD. Cap was framed with the Director of SHIELD's death, and we're all on the run from SHIELD... Or Hydra...we really don't know right now," Autumn informed while raising an eyebrow.

Sam got the feeling that Autumn was a bit of a jokester, even in her current mood.

"You said Hydra? Wait, isn't Hydra...?"

"Apparently not," Autumn sighed. "Right? It's freakin' crazy. All this time we thought Hydra was no more."

"Yeah. I bet Steve isn't taking that well," Sam trailed off with a sigh. "Well I made breakfast, if you'd like some."

Autumn forced a smile at the man.

"Thank you, Sam."

Autumn let out a sigh when he left the room and quickly braided her wet hair into a side braid. Once she was finished doing that, she lay back on her bed and lifted her shirt so she could look at her injuries.

"Yep, that's pretty bad..." she muttered to herself. "Aaaand this is going to suck..."

She placed the ice pack over her ribs and let out a rather loud hiss.

"Autumn?"

Steve all of a sudden walked in without knocking but instantly looked away when he saw her bare stomach. His cheeks were already turning noticeably red.

"Oh, goodness, Steve. It's just skin," Autumn half teased. But truthfully, she was a tad bit embarrassed that she wasn't covered up. And the fact that Steve was noticeably embarrassed made her a little embarrassed...

"Sorry, I just uh..." Steve turned to look at her and focused intently on her eyes. "I thought you were hurt."

Autumn looked down at her stomach and raised an eyebrow before looking back at the man.

"I kind of am, Cap. But I'm sorry, didn't mean to make a scene. This ice is just really cold," Autumn apologized and temporarily removed the pack.

"No need to be sorry," Steve assured. "And it's supposed to be cold."

"Oh, har har," Autumn stuck her tongue out at the man and attempted to put the ice pack over her ribs again, only to hiss out in pain.

Steve couldn't help but have sympathy for the girl. She had put her own safety on the line because she chose to be on his side. Despite hardly knowing him, she put her faith in him and decided to help. And now, she was hurt.

But maybe he could help her.

"Here," Steve approached her and sat down beside her on the bed. "Do you mind if I help you out?"

Autumn's joking demeanor instantly changed and she found it really hard to keep her calm composure with this muscular man sitting right next to her. Speaking of which, he had one hell of a body. She had always known the man was fit, but seeing him in that white tank top? His muscles seemed especially prominent right now.

"Sure...?" she said, not meaning for it to come out as a question.

"I'll hold down the ice on you and we can keep talk the entire time to try and get your mind off of it. Deal?" Steve boldly suggested.

Autumn nervously chewed the inside of her lip and mentally told herself to calm down. This didn't mean a damn thing. She was hurt and he is trying to help. That's all.

"Okay. I know you have super strength though so just put a little pressure," Autumn sarcastically lectured.

"I'll try," Steve said with a crooked smile. He took the ice pack and positioned it above her injury. His eyes of course couldn't help notice her smooth and flat stomach and the distinct curve in her waist and hips. It was almost alluring to him how her body could be shaped so beautifully. But he quickly pushed those thoughts out of his head. "Okay, here we go."

Autumn let out another hiss when the cold made contact with her scrapes and bruising.

"So, how long have you been a SHIELD agent?" Steve asked in an attempt to distract her. But he already knew the answer.

"A few months. I joined earlier this year..." Autumn trailed off. Her eyes were fixated on the ceiling above her. Now she seemed like she was lost in thought.

"What are you thinking about?"

Autumn's adrenaline had been pumping since they've been on the run. But now that they've settled down for the moment, she suddenly remembered what Dr. Zola had shown her.

"My dad..." Autumn whispered. "Apparently he's a SHIELD agent."

"Yeah," he sighed. "Apparently so. You're worried, of course."

"Well, yeah. His picture was shown among those Hydra has killed or is monitoring. I...this is too much to take in. Nothing is making sense right now. I don't even know if he's okay. Hydra...SHIELD...whoever the hell they are, now knows I'm on the run with you guys. What if they hurt my family?" Autumn vented as she put her arm over her forehead.

"They won't. I'll talk to Natasha and she'll find a way to provide them with some security," Steve reassuringly told her.

Autumn wasn't sure what to say in response. Part of her was doubtful, given their current situation. I mean, it's not like they knew who they could trust...but despite all, she knew when Natasha wanted to get something done, it will get done. She had confidence in her friend.

"Where's your family now? Brooklyn?"

Steve turned over the ice pack to get the cooler side on her skin. He noticed she didn't even flinch. The talking was definitely helping.

"Yep. Brooklyn is home, born and raised," Autumn answered wearily.

"Same here."

"Everyone knows that, Steve," Autumn teased.

"Right...you have any siblings?" Steve asked.

"I have three older sisters. The oldest is a lawyer, the second is a nurse and the third oldest is a teacher. I know, model siblings, right?" Autumn scoffed. "My parents still think I work in the Geek Squad."

"The Geek Squad?"

"Yeah...you know, the guys who come to your house and set up all your electronic stuff?"

Steve only raised an amused eyebrow.

"Okay, I forget you still have much to catch up on."

"I have seventy years of catching up to do, cut me some slack, Carmichael."

Autumn couldn't help but let out a laugh, making Steve smile in turn.

"Okay, fine. But yeah, graduated top of my class at M.I.T. and couldn't get a decent job at the time until I applied for the Geek Squad. I only worked there for a month but my parents still think I've been working there."

"Graduated top of your class and couldn't get a decent job?"

"Eh, I got some offers. Okay, some were decent. But I just wasn't happy with any to be honest..."

"What made you join SHIELD? Natasha was telling me you were recruited?"

"Uh, more like forced. I mean, I successfully hacked into SHIELD's database server as a civilian and was given the option to go to jail or join SHIELD."

"That's...interesting. SHIELD seems to like giving others second chances."

"Yeah. Apparently so. Well, I obviously took it. Originally went in to work in the Advanced Technology Department but my powers were discovered upon initial screening. Totally thought I could keep it hidden...boy was I wrong. But that's a story for a different time. Long story short, Director Fury convinced me to work as a field agent and tah-dah," Autumn sang while holding out her arms. "That's what brought me here. Well, that and training under Natasha."

"Must have saw something special in you if he had you start training under Natasha," Steve remarked.

The corner of Autumn's lips pulled into a crooked smile. The brunette shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know about that...but I'm glad I got stuck with her. She's one hell of a trainer and an awesome friend."

Steve offered her a smile but stayed silent after. Autumn pursed her lips together and rolled her eyes up.

Yeah, it was a little more awkward when they were conversing.

"Soooooo..." Autumn awkwardly trailed off.

"I wanted to say thank you," Steve all of a sudden confessed. "You didn't have to go with us. You risked your life helping me when you hardly even know me."

Autumn shook her head, dismissing his apology.

"I know you didn't kill Fury and I know you were framed."

"You still didn't have to risk your life," Steve pointed out.

"Well, too bad. I did. Now you're stuck with me!" Autumn joked and playfully punched his arm. The last thing she wanted to get was sappy or weird. She knew he wasn't responsible for his death and was being framed. She wanted to help, simple as that. Or that's what she told herself, at least.

"Yeah," Steve shot her a crooked smile. "I guess so."

"Am I interrupting something?" Came Natasha's voice as she poked her head through the door. "Looks like you guys are getting to know each other."

Autumn rolled her eyes at her friend. Even though she was joking, her voice was still laced with disappointment. It was understandable why.

"Yeah, Steve's quite the chatterbox," Autumn teased.

"Said no one ever," Natasha countered.

"Alright, we're done here," Steve removed the ice pack before standing up.

"Oh lighten up, Rogers. We're just messing around."

Autumn pulled down her shirt and swung her legs around the side of the bed.

"Ugh. This shit hurts," she groaned as she stood up.

"Tough it out, Pikachu," Natasha smirked.

"Okay, seriously? I hate that nickname."

"What does Pikachu mean?" asked Steve, completely clueless.

Autumn raised an exaggerated eyebrow at the man. She was genuinely surprised he didn't know what a Pikachu was. Pokemon was still pretty big.

"Seriously, Steve? When all of this is over, I'm going to give you a run down of all the cool things you've missed," Autumn declared.

* * *

"So, the question is, who in SHIELD could launch a domestic missile strike?" Natasha asked.

Natasha, Steve, Autumn and Sam sat around the kitchen table and were currently discussing what had happened and what their next step was.

"Pierce," Steve confidently answered.

"Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world," the red head pointed out.

"But he's not working alone, Zola's algorithm was on the Lemurian Star."

"So was Jasper Sitwell."

"You know, I always thought that guy was off," Autumn muttered as she took a swig of her coffee.

"So, the real question is, how do the three most wanted people in Washington kidnap a SHIELD officer in broad daylight?" Steve asked the group, open to any answers. The trio haven't been able to catch a break since they first took off on the run. He was certain Hydra wouldn't let up now.

"The answer is, you don't," Sam answered and dropped a file in front of Steve.

"What's this?"

"Call it a resume."

Natasha picks up a photo of Sam with his para-rescue team.

"Is this Bakhmala? The Khalid Khandil mission, that was you," Natasha then turned to Steve. "You didn't say he was a para-rescue."

Steve's eyes found the photo of Sam and another man.

"Is this Riley?" Steve asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah," Sam answered.

"I heard they couldn't bring in the choppers because of the RPGs," Natasha recalled. "What did you use, a stealth chute?"

"No. These."

Sam hands Steve another file. Autumn watched as Steve read it, curious as to what it was. When he lay the folder down, she saw what looked like mechanical wings.

"I thought you said you're a pilot?" asked Steve.

"I never said a pilot," Sam said with a smirk.

"I can't ask you to do this, Sam. You got out for a good reason."

"Dude, Captain America needs my help. There's no better reason to get back in."

"Where can we get our hands on one of these things?"

"The last one is at Fort Meade, behind three guarded gates and a twelve-inch steel wall," Sam supplied.

"That's no problem at all," Autumn chimed in, holding out her hand and letting her self-generated electricity spark between her fingers.

Sam's eyes widened as he took a giant step back and pointed at her.

"Alright. What the hell is that?"

Autumn rolled her eyes before smirking at the man.

"That, or me, is how we're going to get your wings back."

* * *

 **Please let me know what you guys think. I'm sorry it was a short chapter but there will be more action next chapter. As I mentioned earlier, I'm just going through a rough time and I'm really not in a good place right now. It's been too long since I've updated and I really love this Steve/Autumn pairing and wanted to at least get something out.**

 **Review and let me know what you think! NO FLAMES.**

 **Till next chapter. :)**


	6. Interrogation

**Hey guys. Thank you to those who reviewed/favorited/followed this story!**

 **The idea was to keep this story going throughout the movies and of course write some stories in between but to be honest, I'm not sure if I want to keep going. I invest a lot of time in this story when I'm already working a twelve hour day and going to college. It's a lot of work and I just want to be sure that if I'm investing my very little spare time to work on this story, it's actually a story that my readers like. I don't want it to be for nothing! So the sequel (hoping to be after 10 - 13 chapters) will happen only if I feel like this story is going somewhere. If I don't get the feedback needed for this story, I won't continue on. Simple as that. I'll move on with my life and just accept the fact that I am not a good writer and quit. Hahahaha.**

 **stellarstarlet:** Thank you for reviewing! I had fun writing their short moment together. :)

 **kiroroblue:** I will! Thank you and I'm glad you like it!

 **PandaLilly:** O_O You seriously reviewed all five chapters? I don't even know what to say. You are amazing and you made my day! :) Thank you so much!

* * *

The plan was set in stone. Three of the most wanted in DC wouldn't be able to capture Jasper Sitwell, a SHIELD officer, in the middle of the day without being noticed. They would have to invest in the help of their new comrade, Sam Wilson, aka Falcon, to capture the man. And of course, help Sam get his wings back first.

Autumn was in spare room bathroom brushing her hair back into a high ponytail. After banding her thick hair with three hair ties, she let out a sigh and rolled her neck around. She was tired, injured, and was a little nervous that her physical condition would set the mission back.

Autumn then shook her head and decided in that moment that she didn't care what she felt. She ignored the fact that she was sleep deprived, tired as all hell, and had a bruise the size of a basketball on her stomach. Hydra or SHIELD or whoever was chasing after them certainly didn't care that she wasn't feeling 100%, so neither should she. Autumn was determined to stay focused and determined to help Steve and Natasha expose Hydra for the world to see.

Autumn walked out of the bathroom and spotted Natasha sitting on her bed.

"Clint is going to watch over your family along with a few others. Trusted people," informed Natasha.

Autumn's blue eyes faltered at the mention of her family. Her parents and three sisters.

"Are they safe?"

"Yes."

"Will they know they're being watched?"

"No."

"Good, hopefully it stays that way."

"You can go back, if that's what you feel you need to do," came Steve's voice.

Autumn turned to face the man who was standing at the doorway. His arms were crossed and his expression was a bit tense, but his eyes were soft and assuring as he stared at the blue eyed girl. Steve's suggestion was already something she had considered. And she almost had done it. Any other person would have probably headed back to their family in a heart beat...but deep down, Autumn knew this is where she needed to be. Autumn had faith that her family would be taken care of. Especially now if Clint was the one looking after them.

"This is where I need to be," Autumn simply stated to the man.

Steve looked at the girl, briefly studying her posture and demeanor.

"I know you're worried about your family, and you have every reason to be. But if you're going to stay with us, I just need to be sure that you're completely focused on the mission."

"And you have no reason to worry, Steve. I'm focused," Autumn reassured.

The blue eyed man nodded his head in response.

"Okay. We're leaving in ten minutes," he informed before walking out of the room.

Autumn turned to look at Natasha, who wore a small but smug smile on her face.

"What?" Autumn asked while raising an exaggerated eyebrow.

"Oh, nothing," Natasha smirked as she pulled out her phone, turning her attention to it.

"Okay..." Autumn trailed off, still unsure of why Natasha still had a shit eating grin on her face.

* * *

"You guys just met, right?" Sam asked Steve as he walked away from the spare room.

Steve looked back at the door and then gave Sam a questioning look.

"Autumn? Yeah, few days ago. Long story."

"Yeah, she said the same thing too," told Sam.

"Why do you ask?" Steve inquired as he approached the man. "She can be trusted, if that's what you're worried about."

"No, man. It's not that."

"Do I even want to know what you're going to say next?" asked Steve.

The soldier already knew where this conversation was going. He may have not had a lot of experience with this subject, but he wasn't completely clueless as to what Sam was hinting at.

"Thought you guys were a thing at first. The way you looked at each other."

"I can assure you we're not," Steve simply stated.

Admittedly, he wanted to pry into the subject of 'the way they looked at each other'. Meaning, they BOTH looked at each other a certain way per what Sam was saying. Steve internally acknowledge the fact that yes, Autumn was an attractive young woman and yes, there was something about her that intrigued him. But now just wasn't the time to think of any of that.

"Could of fooled me. Then Sparky told me you guys had just met so figured you weren't together."

"Yeah, we just met," Steve acknowledged. "She's good though. New, but definitely an asset. She's helped us out a lot since we've been on the run."

"Must be a huge plus having a super human who can electrocute others, huh? Paired with a master assassin and a super soldier, I'm surprised you even invested in my help," Sam admitted.

"It's very much needed. And I can't thank you enough."

"No need to thank me, man. Just glad I can help."

"You boys ready?" Natasha emerged from the room, followed by Autumn.

Steve turned to look at the two agents and nodded.

"Let's go," ordered the Captain.

* * *

Autumn could only watch as Steve hot-wired yet another car for their taking. Sam had dropped them off at a gas station about five miles out of where they planned to kidnap Agent Sitwell. Autumn had suggested they be dropped out further, but Steve assured her he would have them out of there and in a car in no time.

"I kind of feel bad. This looks like a brand new car. We borrowing this one too?" Autumn snarkily remarked in reference to his comment about "borrowing" the previous car he had hot-wired.

"Yep," was Steve's only reply as he started to strip the insulation off the battery wires.

"Well, this is for the greater good, I suppose," the brunette muttered.

Then she had an idea.

"Steve, I was told you have an eidetic memory?"

"I wouldn't say eidetic. Who told you that?" Steve questioned as he connected the ignition and battery wire together.

"I may or may not have learned about you my sophomore year in high school," she nonchalantly explained as Steve revved the engine. Autumn took that as her cue to hop in the passenger side of the car.

Autumn watched Steve's lips curve into a barely there smile. For whatever reason, him smiling made her smile too.

"Not exactly an eidetic memory. The serum did enhance it though."

Autumn's smile grew. She knew he was just being humble. It was actually made known that Steve had a nearly eidetic memory before the serum.

"Why you ask?" Steve questioned as he sat himself down in the drivers seat and adjusted his mirrors.

"398CPV," Autumn temporarily memorized. "I can't count on myself to memorize that so please remember that. It's the license plate for the car. When all of this is done and over with, I'll find out who this car is registered to and pay them back. Somehow."

"732JYF," Steve flawlessly stated. "I had the same idea with the other car."

Autumn's smile turned into a full on grin. She was admittedly impressed. And here she thought he was just hot-wiring cars with no remorse.

"I guess great minds think alike," she complemented.

"I guess so," the man subtly smirked again, turning his head to glance at the woman briefly. "You think I'm just going to steal cars and not find a way to replace them?"

"Well, I don't think that anymore. And here," she held out a pair of aviators and a ball cap for him to take. "Any effort we can make to go unnoticed. It's like this car knew we were coming."

"Thanks," Steve took said items from item and put them on. "No disguise for you?"

"I found these glasses..." Autumn pulled out a pair of huge sunglasses from the center console and put them on. "How do I look?"

"Those glasses are too big for your face."

"Good, that means it covers up most of my face. Which unfortunately is now well known because of that stupid computer. Or person. Whatever the hell Zola was."

The two sat in silence as they drove through the city. Autumn didn't know what was going through Steve's head or what usually ran through his head before attempting to kidnap someone, but Autumn was replaying the sequence of events over and over in her mind. It wasn't every day you get the opportunity to kidnap a high ranked SHIELD officer while being the most wanted people in DC.

"You have any questions on what's about to happen?" Steve asked, breaking the silence.

"Umm, no. Plan is pretty simple...Sitwell will get in the car, we'll take him to the top of the Plaza building where Natasha is at, you guys will interrogate him, get the info we need and I'm sure you'll come up with a plan from there," explained Autumn.

"Nervous?" the soldier pried.

"Maybe a little..." Autumn admitted but instantly wished she hadn't. She didn't want Steve thinking she was going to be a problem. "But I suppose that's normal for anyone. Surely you get nervous right?"

"Can't say I do."

"Well what do you do to make yourself not nervous?"

"Experience has a lot to do with it," Steve answered and shot a glance at Autumn. "For what it's worth, you don't look nervous one bit. You exert confidence."

"I exert confidence?" Autumn repeated, laughing as his comment.

"What?" Steve briefly smiled at the woman before turning his attention back to the road.

"Nothing, Steve. Glad you think that," the girl let out a small chuckle. "Well, you exert a lot of confidence too. And patriotism."

"Thanks," the soldier sarcastically thanked.

"Of course."

Steve's phone started to buzz. It was a prepaid phone Sam gave him before starting their escapade. It would be a bit difficult to plan this mission without any comms so prepaid phones was the best they could do.

"It's Sam. He's about to call Sitwell."

"Okay, I'll hop in the back."

Autumn climbed to the back as Steve parked the car.

"Get ready. I see Sitwell on his way."

"Okay," Autumn acknowledged and threw off her glasses.

When the car door opened, the first thing Agent Sitwell saw was Autumn with a smug smile on her face, arm thrown over the back of the seat and legs crossed.

Oh yes, Agent Sitwell knew who she was.

"Come on in, there's plenty of room for the two of us," Autumn beamed. She held out her other hand and let electricity spark through her fingers.

"Oh, come on," Agent Sitwell groaned when he noticed her. "Seriously? You invested in the help of _her_? You must be desperate, Rogers."

Autumn instantly sent a jolt of electricity his way, making him shriek and hit his head on the car.

"You might want to get in or next time it'll be worse," Autumn patted the seat next to her.

Steve couldn't help but think Autumn was almost a natural. For someone who said they were a bit nervous, she certainly didn't look it. In fact, she seemed almost overly confident and comfortable.

"You're freaking kidding me," the agent groaned as he slid in next to brunette. "I'm not talking, Rogers."

"The way I see it, you don't really have a choice, Sitwell."

* * *

Steve kicked open the door and threw Sitwell across the rooftop with Autumn and Natasha following right after him.

"Tell me about Zola's algorithm," Steve demanded.

"Never heard of it," Sitwell denied while putting his glasses back on his face. He continued to stumble backwards as the three approached him.

"What were you doing on the Lemurian Star?"

"I was throwing up, I get seasick."

Steve forced Sitwell to the edge of the rooftop and grabbed him before he could fall back. But Sitwell just arrogantly smiled.

"Is this little display insinuating that you're meaning to throw me off the roof? Cause that's really not your style, Rogers."

The Captain pauses for a moment before letting him go.

"You're right," Steve admits and briskly dusts off his shoulders. "It's not. It's hers."

Steve steps aside and Natasha was quick to push kick Sitwell off the roof. Autumn peered over the building and grimaced as the man plummeted down the building, screaming his head off.

"What about Autumn? Autumn you're single, right?"

"Wait, what about me?" Autumn asked, only catching the tail end of Natasha's question.

"Natasha..." Steve said in a warning tone and glared at the woman. She had been trying to set him up with women for the past few weeks. She would do it during debriefs, missions, whenever. And now she was suggesting he date a girl who was currently standing right beside him. She truly had no filter.

"What? You're single, Autumn is single. I can see it being a good match."

"Nat? Seriously?" Autumn's cheeks turned pink and prayed for Sam to hurry up and bring Sitwell back.

Steve simply looked away. Had they not been in the middle of an interrogation, he probably would have been a little embarrassed, but right now, he just chose to ignore it.

"What? You guys would make a cute couple," Natasha smirked.

"Oh, god," Autumn let out a groan and placed her hands on her hips.

Thankfully, Sam chose that time to fly above them with Sitwell. When he was close enough to the deck, Sam forcefully threw him back down on he roof.

The four walk towards Sitwell, who holds his hands up in fear.

"Zola's algorithm is a program...for choosing Insight's targets!"

"What targets?" asked Steve.

"You...a TV anchor in Cairo, the Under Secretary of Defense, a high school valedictorian in Iowa City. Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, anyone who's a threat to Hydra! Now, or in the future."

"The future? How could it know?"

"How could it not?" Sitwell laughs and stands up to face Steve. "The 21st century is a digital book. Zola taught Hydra how to read it."

Autumn looked at the agent as if he were crazy while Steve and Natasha's expression remained blank, waiting for him to continue.

"Your bank records, medical histories, voting patterns, e-mails, phone calls, your damn SAT scores. Zola's algorithm evaluates peoples' past to predict their future," explained Sitwell.

"What then?" Asks Steve.

"Oh, my god. Pierce is gonna kill me..."

"What then?" Steve asks again, irritation lacing his voice.

"Then the Insight Helicarriers scratch people of the list. A few million at a time."

Autumn stared at the man in shock, unable to bring herself to say anything. Well, it was no shit that she, Steve, Natasha and Sam were definitely on that list. That list would probably include her family and friends too.

Natasha marched towards Sitwell and grabbed his neck.

"How long?" She demanded.

"Six-sixteen hours," Sitwell answered.

* * *

 **Thought I would update soon seeing as I took over a month to get Chapter 5 up. Please review and let me know what you think.**

 **Also, how am I doing with the Steve/Autumn chemistry? It's a bit tricky trying to create chemistry between them when they are also on a mission to stop Hydra. I don't want to pull away from their focus on the mission but at the same time, Steve/Autumn chemistry is needed! Let me know what you think!**

 **Constructive criticism is always appreciated. :)**


	7. Enter The Winter Soldier

**Thank you to all those who have followed/favorited/reviewed this story so far. :)**

 **I also wanted to say thank you for all the feedback I got last chapter. Definitely motivates me to get these chapters out faster!**

 **Bear with me on this chapter please. It really just contains the highway fight scene and I almost had entirely skipped it. But I decided whatever just go with it. It'll be pretty dry but who knows maybe I'll update sooner...**

 **kawaiixkisses:** haha, I'm glad you like the nicknames I gave her. thank you so much for kind review. definitely put a smile on my face!

 **Evaline101:** glad you like the story. :) yeah, I really didn't want to pull away from Steve's focus on the mission so that's why I'm just putting little Steve/Autumn moments for now. before I start Age of Ultron, there will definitely be some bonding between the two. :)

 **stellarstarlet:** thanks so much! that's what I worry about, haha.

 **PandaLilly:** thank you for reviewing! enjoy this chapter!

 **kiroroblue:** thank you! glad you like the story! :)

 **Kosongbird:** even though I already messaged you, I wanted to publicly say thank you for pointing out that I had given her brown eyes instead of blue in Chapter 6! good catch! and thank you for reviewing!

* * *

"Hydra doesn't like leaks," Sitwell stated.

"So stick a cork in it," told Sam.

"The hell with Hydra," Autumn feistily remarked. "How the hell could you even work for Hydra? Global domination just strikes your fancy, doesn't it?"

Autumn was currently sandwiched between Natasha and Sitwell while Steve and Sam were up front with Sam driving the car.

"You know, you have one hell of a mouth. I'd suggest shutting it before something bad happens to you," Agent Sitwell countered.

"I have one hell of a mouth? Yeah, right. You just betrayed Pierce. Let's see how that works out for you."

Steve glanced back at Autumn through the rear view mirror. She looked irritated as all hell with her cerulean blue eyes narrowed and her arms crossed. And she had every reason to be. He knew she was still on edge ever since finding out about her dad, especially because it still wasn't known if he was truly SHIELD or Hydra. Autumn was also dealing with a minor injury to her stomach and it probably didn't help that she was sandwiched between two people, and of course the fact that millions of people could possibly die in less than twenty-four hours if they couldn't stop the helicarriers from launching. They all were pretty stressed out about that one.

"Insight's launching in sixteen hours, we're cutting it a little bit close here," Natasha informed as she popped her head between Steve and Sam.

Autumn let out another aggravated sigh. They were headed back to the Triskelion. The freaking Triskelion. They might as well march in holding a sign saying, 'Come get us'. But really, that was their only option. They had to somehow get in and stop the helicarriers from launching. It was either that or die trying. The lives of literally millions of people were depending on the four of them. It was a lot of pressure and they didn't have a whole lot of time.

"I know," Steve acknowledged. "We'll use him to bypass the DNA scans and access the Helicarriers directly."

"What?!" Agent Sitwell exclaimed. "That is a terrible, terrible idea."

A sudden and loud thump was heard on top of the car. Everyone looked towards the roof but their attention was then averted to the rear passenger window breaking. The next thing they saw was an arm reach in, grab Agent Sitwell and throw him out the window and into oncoming traffic.

"What the hell!" Autumn backed her body up against Natasha, terrified that she might be thrown out next. Both went wide-eyed as they watched Sitwell get trampled by an 18-wheeler. Natasha snapped her head towards the sound of footsteps above them. She knew what was going to happen next.

"Autumn, move!" she screams out.

Autumn quickly swung herself to the front and squished herself between Steve and the dashboard while Natasha settled on his lap. They had barely moved out of the way before bullets started to litter the entire back half of the car.

Steve reached down and shifted the car into park, making the car come to a complete stop and throwing whoever was on top of the car out in front of them.

"It's him..." Autumn breathlessly acknowledged as she watched the man come to a stop by simply digging his metal arm into the ground.

Natasha pulled out her pistol and aimed it at the Winter Soldier. She had almost pulled the trigger until a vehicle had rammed into them from behind, causing her to drop her 9mm. The vehicle was forcing them in the direction of the metal-arm man and there was nothing they could do.

The Winter Soldier jumped over the car and punched both his hands through the back window to hold on.

"Shit!" Autumn exclaimed as she blindly searched for Natasha's pistol.

The metal arm then reached in through front windshield and effortlessly ripped away the steering wheel.

"Holy shit!" Sam screamed out when he saw the steering wheel being thrown away from the car.

"Here!" Autumn handed Natasha her pistol and the Black Widow wasted no time in shooting at the man.

The Winter Soldier dodged her shots and leapt onto the green hummer behind them. The hummer quickly gains on them and rams into them again, causing them to swerve to the side and hit the shoulder hard.

Steve knew there was no coming out of this. Their car was a dead stick and it was either escape or crash and risk being caught. Steve grabbed both Natasha and Autumn and pulled them close. Sam knew what he was about to do and also grabs on.

"Hang on!" Steve yells.

Then their car went airborne. Steve waited till they were at the right angle to separate the passenger door from the rest of the car, using it as a platform as they slid down the road.

Autumn had desperately tried to hold on to Steve but when they made contact with the ground, the impact had knocked the wind right out of her and caused her to let go.

"Autumn!" Steve yelled as he saw her body rolling behind them.

Autumn did the only thing she could do and tucked in her head as her body tumbled. She braced herself for each roll, knowing that she wasn't going to come out of this unscathed in the least bit. She was tumbling way too hard and way too fast.

Steve, Natasha and Sam finally came to a stop but not even a second passed before the Winter Soldier started engage in their direction.

"He has an RPG!" Natasha called out.

"Move!" Steve instinctively pushed Natasha to the side and held up his shield, ready to embrace for impact. He had no choice. It was either him, or the innocent bystanders on the road.

The impact was hard and had sent Steve flying off the bridge and crashing through a MetroBus down below.

Up on the bridge, Natasha and Sam ran from more gunfire and sought cover behind a few abandoned cars.

"Where's Autumn?" Sam asked as they sprinted. His head moved all around, keeping an eye out for the brunette while also watching out for himself. He could only hope Hydra hadn't gotten to her.

Natasha didn't answer. Instead, she came to a stop and started to shoot back at the Winter Soldier and the oncoming Hydra agents. There were too many and she didn't have the fire power to stop them all.

"We need to split up!" Natasha ordered. "Now!"

The Black Widow then jumped onto oncoming traffic to avoid another RPG. More gunfire came her way but she continued to seek cover behind cars. Hydra launched an RPG at the next car as she approached it, sending it flying off the bridge. She jumped with it, making it seem like they got her with it. Natasha swiftly pulled out her rope launcher, aimed it at the bottom bridge and swung herself to the ground below.

Natasha hit the ground running and immediately saw the Winter Soldier's shadow from the top of the bridge. It looked like he was sighting in for something. She angled herself into a position he wouldn't see her, withdrew both her pistols and shot at him. She saw him disappear but she knew she had hit him.

Natasha scanned the crowd, looking for Autumn.

"Where are you?" She said through gritted teeth.

But her search didn't last long. She spotted the Winter Soldier with his AR-15 pointed at her. She sought cover again behind the back of a truck and fired both her pistols at the man until she went dry. Knowing there was nothing else she could do in that moment, she took off once again.

Meanwhile, Steve had just started to pull himself up from inside of the bus. But it wasn't long before the bus came under heavy fire too. He ran away from the bullets coming his way and threw himself out the back of the bus. Conveniently, he had landed next to his shield and quickly put it up to shield himself from the hail of gun fire. He barely caught a glimpse of Sam up on the bridge with a rifle and knew he would help take out the other shooters.

Sam took out the shooters one at a time, while Steve charged towards the man with the big machine gun and took him out. It was a moment that was hardly relished as Sam started to take fire from yet another Hydra agent.

"Go! I got this!" Sam yelled at Steve before firing back.

* * *

"Oh hell..." Autumn let out a long groan as she pulled her aching body off the ground. She was a little disoriented from the spinning and not to mention the pain she was in. She had come to a stop when she crashed into a stand still car and had hit her head on the bumper. "Oh shit, oh shit..." She muttered as she heard gunshots in the distance. Her friends were in trouble and she had to get to them.

Autumn took off, ignoring the pain that was throbbing throughout her entire body. As she ran, she discarded her torn olive green jacket, leaving her in only black tank top, jeans and mid-calf high brown boots. Though she had been previously covered by her jacket, she still had a plethora of scrapes and cuts alongside both her arms and her chest.

Autumn was quick to spot Sam on the bridge, and was thankful he was alright and armed with a weapon.

"Sam!" Autumn called out.

"You're late!" He exclaimed. "We need to head down. Steve needs our help."

Autumn glanced down and went wide eyed when she saw Steve and the Winter Soldier battling it out.

"Shit..." she whispered. It was one intense fight. "And Natasha?"

"She was shot," Sam informed as Autumn's blue eyes went wide in horror.

"But she's okay, right?"

"She's seeking cover behind that van right there," Sam pointed out. "Shot in the shoulder. She'll be alright."

"Oh geez...okay, that's good then. Well, kind of..." Autumn breathed out. "Sam...you need to take us down."

Surely the Winter Soldier could be electrocuted. She just had to get close enough.

* * *

"Bucky?" Steve questioned in disbelief. It was definitely his old friend...but how?

"Who the hell is Bucky?" The man asked before aiming his pistol at Steve.

Sam came from up top and knocked him the Winter Soldier to the ground before he could shoot at Steve, who was apparently in shock and still continued to stare at the man in disbelief.

"Steve..." Autumn gasped when she saw he wasn't moving. Taking in a deep breath, she charged towards the Winter Soldier from behind and jumped on his back before he could make another move. She let out the most powerful electric shock she could give him.

Autumn felt her energy draining rather quick. Whenever she would use her abilities, she would shoot electricity out of her hands and it was always in short jolts. This was her first time ever using her powers like this. Her body was warm and it looked like she was glowing.

The Winter Soldier screamed out in pain and came to his knees. But just when Autumn thought she had him, he reached behind him, grabbed her and threw her in front of him. Autumn's vision went black when she was slammed on the ground, causing the electricity to stop. Her eyes came back into focus when she saw the soldier leaning over her. Before she could attempt to electrocute him again, he quickly snatched her by her throat with his metal arm and lifted her up above the ground.

His grip was so strong around her neck that she couldn't even gasp the tiniest bit of air. Autumn gripped his metal arm with both her hands and tried to pry him off, but it was no use. She was kicking her feet at him and tiny jolts of electricity sparked from her body. She couldn't breathe and her blue eyes had started to roll back...until the Winter Soldier suddenly dropped her on the ground.

The Captain had rammed into him from the side and jammed his shield into his arm, forcing him to let go and drop her to ground. Then Natasha fired an RPG in his direction and blew up the car next to him. When the smoke cleared, the Winter Soldier was no where to be found.

"Autumn..." Steve knelt down and swooped the barely conscious woman into his arms. "We have to run!" He called out to Natasha and Sam.

"I don't think that's an option, Steve..." Sam remarked as a swarm of police cars and Hydra agents started to surround them. "Shit..."

"Drop her, Captain! Drop her! Get on your knees! Now! Get down!" Rumlow ordered as he approached them, pointing his rifle at Steve.

Steve unwillingly lay Autumn down on the ground and held his arms up. Rumlow took both his hands and handcuffed them behind his back.

"Get up!" One of the other Hydra agents forcefully yanked Autumn off the ground, only for her to suddenly snap out of her disorientation. She gasped loudly and out of impulse punched the agent's face, knocking him out cold. But another Hydra agent was quick to retaliate and backhanded her so hard that she was on the ground again.

"Don't touch her!" Steve stood up and head butted the agent who touched her, smashing his nose and knocking him out.

"I said on the ground, Captain!" Rumlow ordered once again and kicked the back of his knees, forcing him down.

"Try that shit again, I'll shoot you," Rumlow threatened lowly to the Captain. "Same goes for you," Rumlow pressed his muzzle to Autumn's head as she was lifted up and forced on her knees. "If I even see one spark of electricity leave your body, I'll blow your fucking head."

Autumn narrowed her eyes at the man but said nothing.

"We have orders to take them out, Sir," one of the other Hydra agents informed, pressing his own muzzle to Steve's head.

Rumlow looked up and immediately spotted a news helicopter circling above them. They were also surrounded by way too many bystanders.

"Not here. Not here!" Rumlow ordered. "Take them away! Along with the other two. We'll find a place more quiet."

* * *

 **What did you guys think? I know it can be boring reading what you've already seen in the movies but I did my best to make it somewhat interesting. I will say though that I did enjoy writing that last part where Steve knocked out the Hydra agent that slapped Autumn. :)**

 **Let me know if you would like me to incorporate any more Steve/Autumn moments. I absolutely love giving my readers what they want! Well, for the most part!**

 **Till next time!**


	8. Recover and Plan

**Thank you to all those who reviewed/followed/favorited this story!**

 **Not as many reviews as the last chapter, but I honestly expected that. It was kind of dry, lol.**

 **This chapter has some Steve/Autumn moments and this is pretty much the calm before the storm! So enjoy!**

 **stellarstarlet : **phew! okay, yeah, I thought it was weird without covering the fight scene too. thanks for reviewing!

 **Guest : **thanks for reviewing! updated a bit early! :)

 **PandaLilly : **thank you! :) :)

* * *

"He looked right at me like he didn't even know me."

"How is that even possible?" Sam asked in disbelief. "That was like, seventy years ago."

"Zola," Steve immediately answered. "Bucky's unit was captured back in 43'. Zola experimented on him. Whatever he did helped Bucky survive the fall. They must have found him and..."

"None of that's your fault, Steve," Natasha assured, her voice straining. She was in a lot of pain and was bleeding profusely from her shoulder.

"Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky."

"It's okay, Steve. We'll find a way to get him back, I'm sure," Autumn encouraged. Her voice too was pained with exhaustion and was quite raspy. The Winter Soldier's choke on her had left her neck noticeably swollen and bruised. It was also a bit difficult for her to talk.

"We need a doctor here," Sam told the guards while keeping an eye on Natasha's shoulder. "If we don't put pressure on that wound, she's gonna bleed out here in the -"

Sam cut himself off when he saw the guard on the left whip out an electric rod. The guard freezes for a second, then turns on the other guard, neutralizing him and knocking him out cold.

Steve, Sam, Natasha and Autumn just stared in surprise.

"That thing was squeezing my brain," a familiar voice spoke as the helmet was pried off. It was Agent Hill. She recognized everyone in the van with the exception of Sam. "Who's this guy?" Hill asks Natasha.

"Thank god," Autumn praised Agent Hill's arrival and threw her head back. As soon as she threw her head back, her vision unexpectedly went black and she slipped into unconsciousness.

"Did...did she just pass out?" Agent Hill questioned, clearly irritated.

Steve looked over at the brunette and saw her passed out with her face towards the roof of the van. Natasha couldn't help but let out an amused snort.

"Appears so," Steve answered and soon felt her head crash against his upper arm. "Have a plan to get us out?"

* * *

"GSW. She's lost at least a pint!" Maria called out once they entered the underground hide out.

"Maybe two," Sam supplied as he helped Natasha walk.

Steve carried an unconscious Autumn in his arms. The woman was drained and sustained some injuries herself.

"Let me take her," a man calls out. Steve recognizes the man immediately. He was the doctor who worked on Fury.

"She'll want to see him first," Maria tells the doctor.

Autumn's eyes fluttered open and started to scan her surroundings. She saw that they were in a run down...building? She wondered what this place was. Was this SHIELD's?

"Where are we?"

Then she realized she was being carried by a pair of strong arms. She looked up and made eye contact with the man. "Steve?"

"Safe. And I'll be damned," he said, his attention drawn away from her.

"Huh? What are you looking at, Cap - oh holy shit. Are we dead?"

There before her eyes while also in the arms of a very handsome Captain America, was a man that she believed to be dead. Yeah, all this had to mean she was dead.

Steve's lips twisted into a small smile.

"No, we're not dead."

"About damn time," Fury remarked from his bed.

* * *

"Lacerated spinal column, cracked sternum, shattered collarbone, perforated liver, and one hell of a headache," Fury listed.

"Don't forget your collapsed lung," the doctor reminded while putting pressure on Natasha's injury.

"Let's not forget that," Fury chuckled. "Otherwise, I'm good."

"They cut you open," said Natasha. "Your heart stopped."

"Tetrodotoxin B. Slows the pulse to one beat a minute. Banner developed it for stress. Didn't work so great for him, but we found a use for it."

"Why all the secrecy?" Steve asks. "Why not just tell us?"

"Any attempt on the Director's life had to look successful," informed the doctor.

"Can't kill you if you're already dead. Besides, I wasn't sure who to trust," the Director admitted.

* * *

"You have two broken ribs, a sprained wrist and a pretty swollen neck," the doctor concluded after checking over Autumn's body very thoroughly. "I'll be back in a bit. I'll get you some medication for your swelling and some wraps for ribs and wrist. We'll clean up those scrapes too."

"Oh, yay. I can deal with broken ribs. Now a broken leg, arm or neck...not so much," Autumn attempted to joke as the doc walked out of the room. She found herself wondering if her ribs had already been broken from when Hydra bombed them in New Jersey or if it had happened during their highway escapade. Didn't really feel much of a difference between now and New Jersey.

"You seem pretty positive," Steve remarked as he entered the room. He leaned against the door and crossed his arms.

"I'm dying inside," Autumn whispered and added an exaggerated eye roll. "But in all seriousness, I'm not finished yet, Cap. I'm going to fight with you. So don't try and bench me."

Steve put his arms up in mock defense.

"I was never going to bench you, Autumn."

"Oh, sorry. It's just last time we were in a similar situation you gave me the option to go. Please don't do that again."

"Wasn't going to," Steve told the blue-eyed girl. "Besides, I need you."

Autumn made eye contact with the man. His expression was serious but for the first time since Sam's house, his eyes were softened. She wasn't too sure what to say in response to that. She had planned to help out as much as she could, until she couldn't fight anymore. Simply because it was her duty and the right thing to do. But it was nice to know she was actually needed and wanted.

"And I wanted to thank you...well for everything. Especially for saving me back there when my head wasn't in it. If it had been, you wouldn't have ended up like this," Steve apologized as he took a seat in front of her and leaned forward, clasping both of his hands in front of him.

Autumn could tell and see how guilty he felt about what had happen to her. But no, she didn't blame him in the least bit.

"Hey..." Autumn carefully slid off the bed as she didn't want to hurt her ribs, and pulled another chair next to his. "I don't blame you one bit. I can't even imagine what it's like for you right now, discovering that your best friend is alive and was also turned into a killing machine by Hydra. That's rough, Steve."

"Still no excuse to let my guard down."

"I'd say it's one hell of an excuse," Autumn disagreed while shaking her head. "Please don't blame yourself. If you do that again, I'll be forced to give you shock therapy."

Steve glanced up at the young woman. He knew she was twenty-six-years-old, but she looked a few years younger. She was undeniably charming in a weird way, yet still possessed maturity way beyond her years. Her deep cerulean blue eyes were tired, marked with pain, anticipation and worry, but could see how they were big with hope and determination. She was a new SHIELD agent, but she when was in the heat of battle, she proved to be more experienced than the rest, even if she didn't feel like it at the moment.

There was something very special about this woman, there was no denying that. She was different than the others, but it wasn't because her rare superpower, but more so her attitude and humorous personality. She was humble, beautiful, intelligent, determined and proved to be a good friend to him during these last few days. She was down to earth and was her own person, something that was rare to find in this new generation of people. He found himself wishing that they could have met under different circumstances.

He didn't realize it until this moment, but maybe she was the type of girl he had been waiting for all along.

"I was totally kidding about the shock therapy, you know..." Autumn trailed off after Steve didn't speak for several moments.

"I know you were. Sorry, was just thinking I guess," Steve admitted. But he wasn't going to tell her what about.

"About how we're going to kick Hydra's butt? By the way, when do we leave for that? I'm in desperate need of a nap. Ugh, I wish I had your abilities. I know you're tired, but you can get over it quick, you know? I feel like I just got ran over by a truck."

Steve's face twisted into slight amusement. This girl could talk. Had it been anyone else, he probably would have been annoyed. But even despite their current situation, he couldn't help but just like everything this girl did.

And that's when he realized he adored this woman. But he would never ever admit that out loud or even entertain that thought right now.

"Yeah, let's get you back into bed. We're going to have a meeting in about half an hour or so. Get your rest until then.."

"Perfect. Just wake me up, even if it happens in five minutes. Natasha's making it through with a gunshot wound, I really have no excuse to be lazy."

"You're not lazy. You also exerted a lot of energy when you electrocuted Buck. Give yourself some credit."

"Yeah, yeah..." Autumn rolled her eyes and stood up. But as soon as she straightened her body, she screamed out in pain and toppled forward. Thankfully, Steve had caught her and helped stand her up. "I'm sorry...stupid ribs..."

"Yeah, how dare they break on you."

"Was that a joke, Captain? Oh wow, never thought I'd see the day," she said, laughing and groaning in pain at the same time.

"You've literally known me for about three days, if that."

"Feels like it's been longer."

"That I can agree to."

Autumn realized that one of Steve's hands was holding onto hers while the other was slipped around her waist. When she saw how close their bodies were to one another, she couldn't help but be a little embarrassed. It wasn't like she was ever close with other men but she and Steve had sure been sharing some interesting moments. Him icing her stomach, carrying her, and now this.

She noted how small her hand was in his large one and how tall and massive he was compared to her 5'2" small frame. He sure was something else.

"Here, let me help you," Steve broke the silence and carefully lifted her up. "You okay?"

"I'm fine..." Autumn responded, her voice a little softer.

Steve cautiously lay her down on the bed, careful to avoid hitting her side.

"I'll come get you in a bit. Get some rest," Steve told her before exiting the room and passing the doctor on the way out.

"Alright, let's get you patched up here. Just try and relax while I clean you up," the doctor told her while opening a bottle of alcohol.

"You got it, doc," Autumn complied, her voice soft. She wasn't sure if she was going to nap now. Not just because the doctor was now smearing alcohol across her scrapes, but because for whatever reason, her heart had been fluttering since Steve had first entered the room. She had chosen to ignore that feeling at first, pegging it for nervousness around the man who was a living and breathing legend, but now she realized it was for a different reason she didn't suspect.

And she didn't dare want to admit it, not even to herself.

* * *

"This man declined the Nobel Peace Prize. He said peace wasn't an achievement, it was a responsibility," Director Fury scoffed while throwing a picture of Alexander Pierce to the middle of the table. "See, it's stuff like this that give me trust issues."

"We have to stop the launch," declared the Captain.

"I don't think the Council's accepting my calls anymore."

"Once the helicarriers reach 3,000 feet, they'll triangulate with Insight satellites, becoming fully weaponized," Agent Hill explained and simulated the helicarriers on her computer screen. "We need to breach those carriers and replace their targeting blades with our own. One or two won't cut it. We need to link all three carriers for this to work, because if even one of those ships remains operational, a whole lot of people are gonna die."

"We have to assume everyone aboard those carriers is HYDRA. We have to get past them, insert these server blades. And maybe, just maybe we can salvage what's left-"

"We're not salvaging anything. We're not just taking down the carriers, Nick. We're taking down SHIELD," Steve firmly interrupted.

"SHIELD had nothing to do with this."

"You gave me this mission. This is how it ends."

"SHIELD's been compromised. You said so yourself," Natasha stated, siding with Steve on this one.

"HYDRA grew right under your nose and nobody noticed."

"Why do you think we're meeting in this cave? I noticed," the Director defended.

"How many paid the price before you did?"

"Look, I didn't know about Barnes."

"Even if you had, would you have told me? Or would you have compartmentalized that, too? S.H.I.E.L.D., HYDRA, it all goes."

"He's right," Natasha told the man.

Director Fury looked at every single person in the room. Everyone seemed to have sided with Steve. Then he made eye contact with Sam, curious as to what he thought about the whole thing.

"Don't look at me. I do what he does, just slower," Sam vouched.

"And what about you, Agent Carmichael? What do you have to say?"

"Well...first off, thank you for considering my opinion. Didn't think I was that important. But I agree with the Captain. He's absolutely right. The only way we can destroy Hydra is if we take down SHIELD with it," Autumn explained and let out a sigh at the end. "Also means I have to find a new job when this is all said and done..." she quietly muttered.

"I'm sure you won't have a problem at all finding a job," Sam whispered in her direction.

"Ha, thanks, Sam."

"Well..." Fury leaned back and let out a sigh. "It looks like you're giving the orders now, Captain."

* * *

 **Short chapter, but like I said there were quite a bit of Steve/Autumn moments!**

 **Next chapter will be interesting (I hope). I'm going to try and condense what's left of the Winter Soldier plot into about two more chapters so I can start getting into developing Steve and Autumn's relationship. I also can't wait to start writing Autumn with Tony, Thor, Clint and Bruce. That's going to be fun! I'll write a few chapters before diving into the Age of Ultron plot. And I think I'm going to make this one long story rather than break it up into several.**

 **So what did you guys think? More reviews = early update :)**


	9. Execute Plan

**Hey guys! Thank you to all who followed/favorited/reviewed so far!**

 **Okay, we're coming to a close! Next chapter will be the last chapter for the Winter Soldier plot and there will be a few chapters before I go into Age of Ultron. Is there anything you would like to see Steve/Autumn wise before going into the Ultron plot? I pretty much know what I'm going to do but I LOVE hearing what my readers have to say and any ideas they may have. =)**

 **Enjoy! And please let me know what you think. This chapter was a b*tch to get out! =P**

* * *

"I don't understand this uniform. Whose idea was it to make it so effing tight? It was probably a man's idea!" Autumn complained as she looked at herself in the mirror. She had just finished donning her all black and skin tight SHIELD issued uniform. "Ugh, my boobs can hardly breath in this thing!"

"What boobs?" Natasha countered as she packed the few things she would need. Nano mask, stun gun, pistol.

Autumn turned around and narrowed her blue eyes at her smirking friend.

"Oh ha ha. Sorry I don't have glorious boobs like you, Nat," Autumn commented sarcastically.

"Do implants."

"Uh, no. I would rather be boobless."

"So, can I ask you a question?" Natasha asked, her sly smile never going away.

"You're going to ask it anyway, so just go for it," Autumn groaned, already knowing where this was going.

"Do you have a thing for Rogers?"

"How did I know?" the brunette threw her hands up in despair. But mentally, she was admittedly worried that she was inadvertently giving the impression that she was interested in the Captain. "Why do you think that?"

"Well, I think he may have a thing for you. It's probably nothing serious, maybe just an attraction. It's something though."

Autumn felt her heart almost skip a beat. Steve? Interested in her? Why? How?

"That's...weird," Autumn played it off, though she really did want to ask Natasha why she thought he had a thing for her. "I mean, he's like super old!"

"He's twenty-nine, minus the time he was frozen. Plus, I've seen the way you look at him."

"Seen the way...Natasha, we've been on the run. We've literally been fighting for our lives these past few days. I can assure you, I don't look at him a certain way or whatever," told Autumn.

"The craziest of times can bring people together. You'd be surprised," said Natasha. The red head was still smirking at the brunette, as if she were waiting for her to crack.

"I mean, he is super handsome. Like, astonishingly so. Who wouldn't think that? Maybe what you saw was just me admiring his looks," Autumn explained to her friend. "Okay...that sounded bad. But you know what I mean, right?"

"So, you aren't going to ask why I said he might have a thing for you?" Natasha urged.

"Nope," Autumn shook her head.

"I know you want to."

"You know what I want? I want to do this damn mission already. I want to help stop those helicarriers and I want to go home to my family. I don't have time for this," Autumn told while waving off her friend.

"Here, sit down," Natasha told the woman, motioning to the chair in front of her.

Autumn raised an eyebrow at the Black Widow before sitting down with her back towards her.

"I'm going to do your hair, don't electrocute me, alright?"

Natasha didn't wait for an answer and started to smooth out Autumn's long and dark brown hair with her fingers.

"How you're able to move your shoulder and arm after just being shot is beyond me."

"I'm fine," Natasha assured. "I've been shot before."

"I'm not sure if that's supposed to be reassuring or not..."

"Besides, you're the one with a broken rib. Two, actually."

"I'll be fine. It's not like I was shot."

"A broken rib could easily puncture your lungs. Keep that in mind," Natasha reminded.

Autumn's face contorted in displeasure.

"I hadn't considered that. Crap."

"You'll be alright."

"You just had to say that, didn't you? Now it's going to be in the back of my mind."

Natasha pulled her brown hair back and started to french braid.

"Well, we could always go back to talking about Rogers."

"Seriously? I'm going to kill you."

"Oh relax, I'm just trying to help you two out."

"I don't need help, Nat. Please? Why do you keep bringing him up? Come on, he wouldn't be interested in a girl like me anyway," Autumn admitted with a sigh.

"Is that why you don't want to talk about this? You think he wouldn't be interested in you?"

"I'm not going to answer that."

"Listen, I've worked very close with Steve for the past several months and I've been trying to set the guy up. I've introduced him to women here and there but he was never interested. Then you come along and I can see that he looks at you in a different light. I think he may have taken a liking towards you."

Autumn fought the urge to smile. But she knew that couldn't be true.

"I think your intuition may be off. Besides, look at everything he's going through. I'm sure he's never once entertained the thought of yours truly."

Natasha finished braiding Autumn's hair and banded the end tightly.

"Done. You look lovely."

"Great. Lovely was what I was going for. I wanted to distract Hydra with my lovely looks," Autumn sarcastically replied while holding her hand out.

"Hey, you guys almost ready to go?" Sam asked, popping his head in.

Natasha nodded and picked up her bag.

"Just know, my intuition is never wrong," Natasha winked at Autumn and walked past Sam.

Sam looked after Natasha and then back at Autumn.

"What was that about?" Sam asked.

"Oh, you know Natasha," Autumn laughed it off and drew circles on the side of head while rolling her eyes. "She's crazy."

"Uhh, okay?" Sam raised an eyebrow and held the door open for Autumn. "Come on. Cap and Hill are waiting for us."

"Right."

* * *

Agent Hill, Sam, and Autumn stood behind Cap, each with a pistol aimed at the surprised comm techs.

"Excuse us," says Steve.

The tech holds his hands up and quickly steps aside to let them enter.

"I need you to make sure every agent in the Triskelion can hear me," Steve told the comm tech.

"Y-y-yes, of course," the tech quickly pulled out a microphone and set it down in front of Steve. "All you need to do is flip the switch, Sir."

Autumn would have chuckled at the agent's nervousness if it were any other moment in time. But serious times called for a serious Autumn.

Steve flipped the microphone on.

"Attention, all SHIELD agents. This is Steve Rogers. You've heard a lot about me over the last few days, some of you were even ordered to hunt me down. But I think it's time you know the truth. SHIELD is not what we thought it was, it's been taken over by Hydra. Alexander Pierce is their leader. The STRIKE and Insight crew are Hydra as well. I don't know how many more, but I know they're in the building. They could be standing right next to you. They almost have what they want - absolute control. They killed Nick Fury and it won't end there. If you launch those Helicarriers today, Hydra will be able to kill anyone that stands in their way, unless we stop them. I know I'm asking for a lot, but the price of freedom is high. It always has been, and it's a price I'm willing to pay. And if I'm the only one, then so be it. But I'm willing to bet I'm not."

Steve turned off the microphone and looked to the three behind him.

"Did you write that down first, or was it off the top of your head?" Sam smirked at the man.

"This is where it starts..." Autumn trailed off and took a deep breath to calm her nerves. She knew what was waiting outside but what scared her most was not injury or fear of her own death, it was the fact that millions of people could die soon if she didn't complete her mission. And even if she did, Sam and Steve still had to complete theirs. They all had to succeed.

Steve walked up to Autumn and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, you have nothing to worry about," Steve assured as he stared into her deep blue eyes.

"I-I'm sorry. I'll be fine, promise," Autumn softly stated. She hated herself for showing weakness in that moment.

"I know you'll be," Steve smiled down at her while squeezing her shoulder. "You have the biggest advantage out of all of us. Just have confidence in yourself and stay focused. You'll be fine."

"When we get out of here, I'll even help you find a job," Sam joked as he pat her back.

"That really doesn't make me feel any better," told Autumn, but the smile on her lips said otherwise.

"Autumn, you got Alpha. Sam, you got Bravo. I have Charlie. Hill, you need to get to the control room. Let's go," Steve ordered.

* * *

"Hey, Cap! How do we know the good guys from the bad guys?" Sam asked as the three of them took in a sprint towards the helicarriers.

"If they're shooting at you, they're bad!" Steve answered.

"Ready, Autumn?" Sam asked the brunette.

"You better not drop me, Wilson!"

"This is going to be very uncomfortable for you," Sam warned as he positioned himself behind Autumn.

Autumn heard a mechanical whir and saw two metal belts come out of his suit and cross over the front of her body in a 'x' formation, securing her tightly to him.

"Holy shiiiiiiiitt!" Steve heard Autumn scream as they took off.

* * *

"Hold on, it's going to get rough!" Sam called out.

"As if this shit wasn't bad enough already!"

It didn't take long before they were taking gunfire. And it was a lot.

Autumn grabbed onto the metal belts by her shoulders and held on for dear life. Sam was moving everywhere. Up, down, left, right, flips, dives...it was about to make her sick. Autumn couldn't do much and only watched as the air exploded all around them. Some of them were close calls too. It was they were caught in the middle of a damn fireworks show.

Sam closed in on the surface of the first carrier, Autumn's carrier. Sam dove in towards a Hydra agent in his way and Autumn gracefully kicked him as he landed. Just when Sam was about to detach himself from her, a quinjet started firing at them.

"Sam watch out!"

"Oh shit!"

Sam took off and flew under the other stationary quinjets to seek cover. The Hydra quinjet fired at the last stationary quinjet, causing it to explode right after Sam and Autumn had passed it. The force of the blast was enough to knock Sam and Autumn off their trajectory and Sam found himself spinning. In an effort to maintain the integrity of his wings, he retracted them and wrapped his arms around Autumn before hitting the ground and tumbling.

"Sam, that jet is coming for us!" Autumn yelled out when they came to a stop. "Can you get us closer?"

"Hold on!"

Sam withdrew his pistols and fired at the Hydra quinjet before leaping off and going airborne once again.

* * *

Sam and Autumn landed in position in front the targeting blades. Lucky for them, there hadn't been any signs of Hydra agents nearby at the moment. But still, they had to move quickly.

Autumn pulled out the targeting blade and replaced it with hers.

"Alpha, lock!" She called out over her comms.

Then the sound of two gunshots were heard and Autumn all of a sudden found herself on the deck. The pain came only moments after the fall.

"Autumn!" Sam called out and looked below him where he saw the Hydra agent sprinting off. "No you don't," he said before shooting at the agent and taking him out.

Autumn gasped in shock and felt a searing pain going through her upper right leg. One of those bullets had hit her.

"Oh shit!" She called out as she grabbed her leg. "Sam just go without me! You need to get to that other helicarrier!"

The original plan was to have Sam drop her off at Steve's location and do a one-for-one swap. But now that was unable to walk, that was no longer an option. If Sam had dropped her off there, it would be like feeding her to the wolves.

"I'm not leaving you. Come on, I'll get you to cover!"

"Sam, please!" Autumn pleaded. "We don't have time!"

"Cap!" Sam pressed his finger to his ear. "Autumn was shot. She's okay but can't walk. I need to get her to cover then I'll come for you."

It was silent for a few moments before he responded.

"Get her to safety. You gotta do it quick, we're running out of time," Steve warned. "Autumn, you'll be alright."

Autumn let out an aggravated sigh.

"Sam, let's strike a deal."

"This better be good," Sam warned as he picked her up.

"Take me to a working quinjet. I'll fly my way out of here and you and Cap can go take care of the other two helicarriers. Sound good?"

"Do you even know how to fly one?"

"Yes," Autumn lied. "All SHIELD agents receive basic flight training at the academy."

Sam stared down at his new comrade for a moment, trying to see if she was bluffing or not.

"Sam, we don't have time. Please? I'll be fine."

"Okay, I swear if I find out you're lying to me..."

Sam took off towards the surface of the helicarrier with Autumn in his arms.

"That one!" Autumn pointed to what looked like the only undamaged quinjet. Sam made his way there and helped Autumn inside.

"Be safe, Autumn," he told her. "Seek cover and put pressure on that wound as soon as you land. Don't worry about anything else, Cap and I got it."

"Thanks, Sam. Kick some ass!"

Sam nodded before taking off back into the fight.

"Alright...here we go..." Autumn said to herself. Everything was even more daunting now that she was by herself. Not to mention the fact that she was extremely vulnerable and barely understood what she was looking at. She looked at all the gauges and buttons and let out a string of curse words. "I forget how advanced all this technology is. Okay...this button right here..."

With a single push, the quinjet came to life. Autumn quickly strapped herself in and did her best to ignore the copious amount of blood gushing out of her wound. She had only one flight lesson in her whole life and that was with her dad a few years ago in his RV-8. She knew this quinjet was drastically different and much more advanced, but surely there had to be some similarities.

"Bravo, lock!" She heard Sam call out.

"Come on, just one more..." she said to herself as she inspected her dashboard. "Okay, cockpit pre-check, left to right..." she remembered her dad teaching her. "Electric power, fuel is good...ugh, screw it! I just need to get to the ground!" She yelled at herself and grabbed the controls.

"I'm grounded," she heard Sam say. "Sorry, Cap."

"Steve, are you on your helicarrier?" Autumn asked.

"He's there. Get to safety, Autumn."

"What about Steve? How will he get down?"

"Don't worry about me. I already have a way," came Steve's voice.

"...okay," Autumn acknowledged. But she didn't believe him.

She had to get to him. She had to help him in any way she could. Just because her part of the mission was done didn't mean it was over yet.

Autumn pulled back on the controls and let out a surprised shriek when the quinjet quickly took off.

"This is surprisingly easy...gotta love SHIELD technology."

Autumn caught on quick and steered towards the other helicarrier that Steve was on. She wasn't too far off from her own helicarrier when she heard an explosion.

"What the hell?" Autumn screamed out as her plane started to lose altitude. She looked at the screen in front of her.

It read, _'Engine Failure'._

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me...guys, my engines went out. I'm going down!" She called out as she searched for the eject controls. "Okay, eject, eject, eject, eject..."

"Eject, Autumn!" She heard Sam call out.

Autumn hit the eject button and felt herself being launched out of the plane. On her way out, something hard collided with her head and had caused her to black out. The last thing she could faintly hear was Steve and Agent Hill over her static comms.

"Do it! Do it now!" Was the very last thing she heard.

* * *

 **One more chapter to go and then the Winter Soldier plot will be finished. I know the action is a bit hard to read through and believe me, it's harder to write. I feel like that is where I struggle. I want to cover everything but then if you really watch the battle scenes and see everything that is going on, it's just so much to write. But if I skip it, it feels weird too.**

 **Idk, what did you guys think? Let me know. This chapter was such a b*tch to write.**


	10. Let's Go On A Date?

**Hey guys! Thank you to all who favorited/followed/reviewed this story so far! =)**

 **This chapter is a bit dull and short, but this sets up the next chapter perfectly. (Well, perfect to me anyway.)**

 **Avengers 2015:** thank you for reviewing the first two chapters. glad you're enjoying it!

 **BarbyChan4ever:** thank you too for reviewing chapters four through nine! made my day!

 **kiroroblue: ** will continue writing. =) glad you like my story!

 **stellarstarlet:** thank you for your kind review! as you already know, balancing the action and romance is challenging, so thank you for saying that. =)

 **PandaLilly: ** thanks! and you'll find out this chapter!

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

The faint sound of music could be heard as Steve slowly started to become conscious. Between the overly bright lights, the familiar smell of disinfectants, and the consistent beeping coming from the heart rate monitor, it didn't take long at all for him to register that he was in a hospital room.

The last thing Steve remembered was telling Bucky that he wasn't going to fight him as the helicarrier was falling from the sky. Steve turned his head to the right and saw Sam reading a book. So Sam was okay, Natasha and Fury took down Alexander Pierce so they must be good... But where was Autumn? Last he heard over his comms was her yelling that her engines went out.

"Where is she?" Steve asked, his voice a bit rough. "Did she make it?"

Sam looked over at his comrade and let out a soft chuckle. He was a little surprised that Steve hadn't asked about Bucky or the aftermath of their mission. He had asked about Autumn.

"Yeah, she's okay, man. She ejected out of the plane but doesn't remember landing. She actually landed only about 200 feet from where you were found," Sam informed.

"Is she hurt?"

"Aside from her previous injuries, she was shot in her right thigh and suffered a mild concussion. She's pretty bruised up too but other than that, she's doing alright. She's still her overly talkative self. She pretended she had amnesia when she first saw Natasha...it was actually pretty funny."

Steve felt his body ease up. He was glad she made it out alright. After he learned she had been shot, he couldn't stop worrying about her. She had always been in the back of his mind throughout their whole mission.

"She's something else," Steve admitted. Truthfully, he normally wouldn't find something like that funny. But because it was her, he couldn't help but fight back a smile. "Where's Buck?"

Sam shot his friend a sympathetic look.

"Gone. No trace of him. Sorry, Steve."

Steve said nothing, he only let out a sigh.

"You should rest up. I'm going to go get you a mirror so you can see how busted your face is right now. But knowing you, your face will probably be healed by the time I return."

"Perks of being genetically altered."

"How long does it take to heal from all this? A day? Maybe two?"

"Hard to say. Maybe about two days or so. Haven't been shot in awhile so we'll see how it goes," Steve half joked.

"I was just joking. But damn."

* * *

"So, you've experienced this sort of thing before?" Fury asked the Captain as he stared at his own grave. It read:

 _Colonel Nicholas J. Fury._  
 _"The path of the righteous man. Ezekiel 25:17"_

"You get used to it," encouraged Steve.

"We've been data-mining Hydra's files. Looks like a lot of rats didn't go down with the ship. I'm heading to Europe tonight, wanted to ask if you'd come."

"There's something I gotta do first," Steve answered.

"How about you, Wilson? I could use a man with your abilities."

"I'm more of a soldier than a spy," told Sam.

"Alright then," Fury says and holds out his hand to both Steve and Sam, who both shake it. "Anybody asks for me, tell them they can find me right here," Fury motions to his gravestone before walking away.

"You should be honored, that's about as close as he gets to saying thank you," came Natasha's voice.

Steve and Sam look over in her direction to find both her and Autumn making their way towards them.

Steve's focus was particularly on the shorter girl who was crutching her way towards them. He hadn't seen her at the hospital, even though she was only a room down. By the time he got around to it, she was already checked out. A few days later and here she was. Sam had mentioned bruises, though he didn't see any aside from a light bruise on her right cheekbone. She was also dressed so differently - She wore a black skirt with black tights, black boots, and a loose long-sleeved off-white shirt that was tucked into her skirt. This was also the first time he had seen her hair down, which fell in gentle waves in front of her. She was absolutely breathtaking.

"Not going with him?" Steve asked Natasha.

"Noooo," Natasha dragged out her answer.

"Not staying here?"

"I blew all my covers. I gotta go figure out a new one."

"That might take a while."

"I'm counting on it," Natasha answers and hands Steve a file. "That thing you asked for, I called in a few favors from Kiev."

Steve opens up the file and sees a picture of Bucky and information regarding his Winter Soldier transformation.

"Be careful, Steve. You might not want to pull on that thread," Natasha warns before kissing his cheek softly and walking away. "I'll be waiting in the car," she whispers as she passes Autumn. Sam leaves too and slaps Steve across his upper arm before walking away.

"Hi, Steve," Autumn awkwardly greets after both Sam and Natasha are out of range. She flashed him an awkward grin.

"Hey," Steve greets back. He was finding himself in a much lighter mood now that she was around him. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better," she answered, though her tone suggested otherwise. "Though I could sure use your healing abilities right now."

"How much longer will you be using those?" Steve nods over to her crutches.

"Hard to say. Doctors say a few weeks but hopefully it won't be that long. I hate not being active."

"So what now?" Steve asked, taking a step towards her.

Autumn's smile fades into a much sadder one.

"I'm not sure...I really have no idea what I'm going to do with myself now. But in the mean time, I'm going to go back to Brooklyn and stay with my family. Confront my dad about his time with SHIELD. Natasha told me he was in fact loyal to SHIELD so phew, that's a huge weight off my shoulders. I take it you're going to go after your friend?"

"Yeah," Steve answered with a sigh. "He's my best friend, I have to find him."

"I understand, I totally understand. My friend back home, her name is Lucy, we've pretty much known each other since we were in pre-school together. I would do anything for her too..." Autumn trailed off awkwardly and grimaced, not quite sure why she had said that. "Sorry, I ramble when I'm nervous. Like, even more so than I usually do."

"Why are you nervous?" Steve asked.

Autumn mentally slapped herself for saying that out loud.

"I...I'm not sure? I think I may have a bit of anxiety after all that's happened..." Autumn lied.

No, that wasn't why. It was because of the man standing in front of her. She didn't want to part with him. Even though they had only known each other for the past few days, she felt as if she'd known him longer. And she wanted to get to know him more. She didn't want to see him go. What if she never saw him again?

"It could be PTSD," Steve suggested. "Did you want to talk about it?"

"Uhh...I'm not sure what there is to talk about. I mean aside from nearly being choked to death, getting shot at and miraculously surviving ejecting from a quinjet after blacking out, all is well," Autumn joked. But Steve's reaction still stayed serious. "It was a joke," she muttered softly.

"You know, we wouldn't have gotten this far if it hadn't been for you. And I...I just wanted to say thank you, Autumn. For everything," Steve told her while looking into her cerulean blue eyes. He had noticed her eyes before, but now that she was in a calmer state, he really noticed how deep and dark blue they were.

Autumn was taken back by his appreciation towards her. She honestly didn't feel like she did anything special. She was only doing what was right.

"You don't have to thank me for anything. And if you ever need my help or anything, don't hesitate to ask. I mean, I might have a funny walk and will probably not be able to run as fast as I used to...but really you could just strap me to your back and I'll just electrocute everyone as you run past them. We'd make a hell of a team, Cap," Autumn suggested with a lopsided grin.

Steve found himself smiling at her awful and yet funny suggestion.

"We would make a great team, Autumn. I'll keep that offer in mind," told Steve.

"Yeah...well, I should get going. Natasha is waiting for me in the car," Autumn motioned with her head towards Nat's car.

"Right..." Steve trailed off, unsure of how to part ways with her.

"You can hug me, you know. I don't bite," she smiled while moving her crutches to one arm and holding her arms out wide.

Steve let out a short chuckle before walking over to her and pulling her in for a hug. He wrapped his arms carefully around her small frame, not wanting to hurt her. Autumn wrapped both arms around him and leaned her head on his chest for just a moment, taking this moment with him in. She was sure going to miss him.

"Call me if you ever need anything, alright?" Steve told her as soon as they parted.

Autumn shifts her crutches back into place under her arms and leans over them.

"Definitely. Bye, Captain America," she tells him and playfully winks at the man.

"See you later, Autumn," Steve smiles back at her.

Autumn returns his smile before turning the other way and crutching back to Natasha's car.

Steve watched her as she crutched away. He felt his heart drop in disappointment as soon as she had turned around.

Did he really have feelings for this girl he had only known a few days? There was no denying that there was something pretty unique about her. Autumn stuck out like a sore thumb compared to all the rest. She was undeniably beautiful, even if she or anyone else didn't think so. Not to mention the fact that she was clever, funny, intelligent...and best of all, she had a big heart.

But what could he do? He was about to go after his friend and there was a possibility of him leaving the country to search for him. He could be gone for weeks or even months at a time.

"Autumn!" He called out and jogged after her. Autumn stopped in her tracks and turned around.

"What's up?"

"I..." Steve cleared his throat and paused for a moment, as if he were collecting his thoughts. Autumn raised an amused eyebrow at the man as she waited for him to speak. "Would you like to get coffee sometime?"

Autumn immediately found herself heating up. She was sure she was blushing. Was this Steve's attempt at asking her out on a date?

"Oh, sure...that would be nice," she answered. "Umm, when?"

"Actually, you deserve better than that. How about dinner? I...I really would like to go on a date with you, Autumn."

"Oh," Autumn breathed and nervously pursed her lips together. "That's...really kind of you, Steve, but..."

Steve mentally started to prepare himself for rejection. That tone was really not assuring at all.

"I hate to put a damper on things...it's just I can't really go out. I'm kind of crippled at the moment. I would still love to go on a date with you though, I just don't know how..." Autumn admitted, her eyes shyly finding the ground. "Maybe we could have dinner and my place? Or yours?"

"Yeah, that'd be great," Steve said, relieved from her answer. "Does my place work?"

"That's fine," she smiled and made eye contact with him again. "What time?"

"6? I can pick you up if you'd like," he offered.

"Sure...that'd be great, Steve. Thank you."

"Can I walk you back to your car?" Steve offered again.

"Sure," Autumn laughed nervously and started to crutch back to her car with Steve beside her. "That was unexpected."

"Yeah, had to take a chance and ask," he admitted to her.

"I'm glad you did," she admitted back.

Her blush colored cheeks didn't go unnoticed by Steve.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Steve," Autumn told him once she was at Natasha's car. And on cue, Natasha rolled down the passenger window. Both Autumn and Steve knew Natasha wasn't going to let them come out of this unscathed.

"Aww, did Steve ask you out on a date?" Natasha cooed at the two.

"Shut it, Nat," Autumn snapped back at her friend before sweetly smiling at Steve.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Autumn," Steve opened the passenger door for her, catching Autumn off guard.

"Oh, chivalry is apparently not dead with you," she nervously laughed before throwing her crutches in the back and stepping in. "See you tomorrow."

"About damn time, Steve," the red head smirked.

"Thanks, Nat," Steve sarcastically replied before she drove off.

"Man, that didn't take long," Sam chimed in.

"Yeah. She's something."

"Yeah, she is," Sam agreed. "Wait, didn't you say your place was shot up?"

Steve's smiled disappeared. His apartment had busted windows, gunshots on the floor and wall, and who knows what else.

"Come on," Sam patted Steve's back. "I'll help you clean up and we can talk about how we're going to find your friend. Deal?"

"Deal," Steve agreed.

* * *

 **Eh. Not sure how I felt about this chapter. I mean I'm happy with what I wrote but I did struggle. Hmm, maybe I'm just being overly critical about how I develop Steve and Autumn's relationship. But oh well, this chapter will do. Hopefully you all enjoyed it. Let me know what you think.**

 **Any ideas or requests for their first date? =)**

 **OH! So, I know Steve mentioned in WS that Autumn wasn't his first kiss since he woke up, meaning he's been on a date or maybe a few since. In the first Captain America movie, you can see how he's super shy with other women. Now that we know he's seen other women, I feel like he won't be super shy anymore. But I'm not going to make him 100% confident either. I mean, this is Autumn, the first girl to really catch his eye and attention since Peggy. I guess what I'm getting at is...I'm a bit apprehensive on how I should write Steve? Eh, maybe I'm thinking too much into this. Thoughts?**


	11. Letting Go

Sorry, I know it's been awhile. Life just happens, ya know? And unfortunately this story took a back seat. Picking up where I left off is a bit difficult but hopefully you're still into this story. This chapter is very short but my intent was to set it up for Age of Ultron.

Thank you to all who reviewed!

BuckyBarnes07: In your last review you mentioned how glad you were that Steve asked Autumn out on a date. I hope I didn't disappoint by skipping over it! As mentioned, my intent for this chapter was to set the story up for the Age of Ultron. I felt like this was the best move especially after being gone so long.

Evaline101: I'm glad you did! Thank you for reviewing!

BarbyChan4ever: I hope I didn't disappoint by skipping over their date! :/ As previously mentioned, I felt like this chapter needed to happen the way it did. But I mean this is a Steve/Autumn story so we'll definitely be seeing more of them!

* * *

Sixteen weeks later...

The now 27-year-old brunette sat against the gym wall, waiting for her sparring partner. Everything was too quiet and it certainly didn't help with the loneliness she was having trouble coping with.

But when playtime was over and Steve had to leave to find his best friend, reality set it and it was getting the best of her.

After SHIELD was dismantled, it didn't take long for Autumn and Steve to hit if off after their date. The two were only together for a little over two months but they had shared so much about each other and bonded in a way she hadn't expected. The physical attraction was there from the start but being able to connect with him on an emotional level was something she never expected. But when the time had come for Steve to leave to track down Bucky, reality set in and it was getting the best of her. Autumn didn't have a job to go back to. She stayed with Natasha and would train with her to sustain her abilities and skills. But really, she felt that there was no ultimate purpose to it.

Autumn closed her eyes and let herself get lost in her memories with him. She could practically feel him behind her, holding her and tilting her neck to the side while his surprisingly soft lips left a sweet trail of kisses up and down her neck.

She let out a sigh and touched her neck, frowning even though she knew he wasn't there.

"He'll be back, you know," Natasha spoke, interrupting her thoughts.

Autumn pursed her lips together and shrugged her shoulders, not wanting to talk about Steve.

"You're being uncharacteristically quiescent, Autumn."

"Give me a break, you just walked into the gym."

"You're usually talking a mile a minute by now."

"You know it's kind of crazy, but sometimes I actually don't talk. Consider it a good thing," Autumn countered with a smirk.

Truthfully, she didn't want to talk about Steve. She fell really hard for the man and even though he said he'd be back for her, she wasn't going to hold her breath. It had been six weeks since he had left with Sam to pursue Bucky and he hadn't called her once. She knew why and really she understood. But that still didn't make it hurt any less.

* * *

 _"I like seeing this side of you, Captain," Autumn teased as she poked Steve's firm chest._

 _The duo was in Steve's new apartment and sitting on his love seat. It was the day before he was going to leave. Autumn was sitting on his lap while he held her, her head laying against his chest._

 _"And what do you mean by that, Miss Carmichael?" Steve intertwined his fingers with hers and gently kissed them._

 _"This playful and sweet side of you. Duh," the brunette said in an obvious tone._

 _"Well, it's only for you," the Captain told her before kissing her gently on her lips._

 _"Mmm, good," Autumn threw her arms around his neck and kissed him fiercely. She was pleasantly surprised when she felt him kiss her back with just as much if not even more intensity._

 _"You know," Steve breathlessly started to say after their shared kiss. "I have always believed that everything happens the way it does for a reason. And doll, I think you're one of those reasons."_

 _Autumn lit up and was certain her face looked so damn goofy from smiling so hard._

 _"Steve...I'm going to miss you. I'm sorry, I don't mean to make this any harder than it is."_

 _Steve let out a sigh and tightened his hold on his girlfriend of ten weeks._

 _"I don't want to leave you either," he admitted, his voice soft. But Bucky was out there and Steve couldn't just let him be._

 _"But I understand how much this means to you," Autumn laced her fingers through his growing blonde hair. "How much he means to you. And he is lucky to have you as a friend. I know you'll find him, Steve. And I'll be here waiting."_

 _"Damn right you'll be..."_

 _Steve stared deeply into her cerulean blue eyes before lifting them both off the couch and carrying her over to his room. Autumn's heart started to race. She had a sense of what was going to happen next and she wasn't going to protest it. It wasn't something they didn't have to talk about. It was what they both wanted._

 _"I think I'm in love with you, Steve..." Autumn whispered, her voice a bit shaky._

 _"I know I'm in love with you, Autumn."_

* * *

"It was hard for her to adapt, Steve. After SHIELD fell, it was difficult for her to find somewhere she could flourish."

Steve leaned forward in his chair and rested his chin on his knuckles. He let out a sigh but said nothing. He didn't expect her to be waiting for him after being gone for almost six months and having no contact with her.

"You make it sound like she dropped off the face of the earth, Nat," Sam chimed in.

"It's been a few weeks since I last talked to her and she seems to be doing fine. She's still her overly talkative self. She went back to Brooklyn to visit her family and she had plans to go back to school."

"She graduated top of her class at M.I.T., what else school is there left to do?"

"She's going to pursue her PhD at Stanford University. Still in Computer Sciences, though I tried to convince her to go the robotics route. Computer Sciences I think is too easy for her," came Tony's voice.

Tony's sudden entrance left the group a bit stunned, though at the same time his entrance was a very Tony-like thing to do.

"Tony Stark," said Sam as he assessed the millionaire. Aside from the fact that he was wildly famous, he had heard a plethora of stories about the guy from Steve. Just knowing what he knew, he felt very indifferent about the guy. He knew they would meet eventually, but he didn't think it would be so soon.

"Sam Wilson. I'm a big fan of the...wings."

"Right..."

Steve shifted his gaze over to his long time friend and let out a barely audible sigh.

"It's been awhile. To what do we owe this visit?" Natasha asked, her tone a bit surprised as well.

The trio were over at Steve's apartment discussing basically everything that had happened during the six months Steve and Sam were out of country. Though they had many close leads, they ended up unsuccessful every time. They spent the better part of the evening talking about what had happened while they were gone but it was Sam who brought up the one person he knew Steve wanted to talk about.

"You've never even met Autumn," said Sam, his voice highly suspicious.

"Actually, I have. Four days ago, to be exact. Her powers are remarkable and she's surprisingly very intelligent. Whoever would have thought with that mouth of hers?"

"Tony..." Steve warned, finally breaking his long silence.

"Yeah, she sort of reminds me of someone I know," said Natasha, who flashed a sly smile over at the Iron Man. He simply acknowledged her with an eye roll.

"Long story short, I tried to recruit her," said Tony.

"Recruit her? For what?" asked Steve. Even though he didn't know what for, a part of him was just hoping she said yes. If Tony was recruiting, Steve was certain that's why he was here.

"I got a visit from our Asgardian friend. He wants to team up and find Loki's scepter. Heimdall says the scepter is currently in the hands of Hydra."

"I'm sorry, who?" questioned Sam.

"A friend of Thor's. Guards the rainbow bridge. Used to, at least."

"Rainbow bridge? Is this a joke?"

"Surprisingly, Stark isn't lying," vouched Natasha. "So you tried to recruit Autumn?"

"Tried but failed. She was set on school and didn't want any part of this."

"Not surprised. She's more of a techie. Even while she was with us in DC, she was still learning to control her powers. She's not the fighting type."

"I'm in," said Steve. "If Hydra does in fact have the scepter, we need to retrieve it. Who knows how much damage has been done already."

Aside from the importance of stopping Hydra before they could do more damage, he knew this would be a good distraction to take his mind off of Autumn. Or at least he had hoped. Autumn was starting a new chapter of her life and if she was hell bent on going to school in California, who was he to stop her? She obviously didn't want to be with him or wait on him so it was best that he just leave her be.

"In," Natasha agreed.

"What about you, Wilson? You in?" asked Tony.

"Count me in. But I ain't crossing no rainbow bridges and shit."

* * *

And there you go! Thoughts? Ideas? I'm about to jump into Age of Ultron but if there are any ideas or requests, please let me know! Reviews and constructive criticism are always appreciated but please, no flames.

Till next time!


	12. Parties and Fights

**Without further adieu, I present chapter 12! Let me know what you think! I breezed through this chapter so please excuse any grammatical errors!**

* * *

"So I take the tank, fly it right up to the General's palace, drop it at his feet. I'm like, 'Boom. You looking for this?'"

Tony and Thor only stared at Rhodey, not quite understanding where the humor was supposed to be in his story.

"Boom. Are you looking for...why do I even talk to you guys? Everywhere else, that story kills."

"That's the whole story?" Thor questioned as he took a swig of his drink.

"Yeah, it's a War Machine story."

"Ah, it's very good then. It's impressive," said the Asguardian in a non-convincing tone.

"Quality save," Rhodey muttered.

"So, no Pepper? She's not coming?" Maria asked as she approached the trio of men.

"No," answered Tony.

"What about Jane? Where are the ladies, gentlemen?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Who is that?" Rhodey's attention was averted to a captivating brunette walking down the steps.

Natasha turned around and smirked when she saw her old friend making her entrance.

"That, boys, is Autumn Carmichael. I invited her. I put her on the guest list, Tony. You remember, right?" asked Natasha.

"Yeah. Didn't think she'd show," admitted Tony. "Reminded me why you invited her again? Not that I have a problem with it. I _definitely_ don't have a problem with it," he said as he eyed her hourglass figure.

"She's my friend. Haven't seen her in awhile. Wanted to show her a good time. And stop drooling before I tell Pepper."

Natasha was almost surprised at the woman she saw walking down the steps. She looked more radiant than ever. Autumn's hair was still long but was styled in neat waves that fell all the way down to her slim waist. The sides were pinned back, revealing her heart shaped face while her eyelids were lined with black eyeliner, which really made her deep blue eyes pop. Her lips were painted in a somewhat dark burgundy lipstick and she wore a tight and strapless dress that cut off a few inches above her knees. And to top it all off, the girl was wearing black heels. Natasha thought she'd never see the day.

"Does Steve know she's here?" Tony asked as he looked around for the super soldier. "Better question, does Autumn know Steve is here?"

"Why would Steve need to know?" Rhodey questioned, raising an eyebrow at the Black Widow.

"Isn't it obvious, friend? Our dear Captain has a beloved. And I'm willing to bet that is her," Thor informed as he gestured at the brunette with his drink.

"Steve? Beloved? Those two words just don't belong in the same sentence."

"Believe it. As freakishly weird as it sounds, she and Steve were a thing about a year ago," told Tony before taking a swig of his drink.

"Were? What happened?" questioned Rhodey.

"What do you think? This occupation isn't exactly compatible with relationships. Job came first and they drifted apart."

"Bummer. Figures Steve would score a hottie like that."

"Don't let her looks fool you. She can talk your ear off."

"Reminds me of someone I know."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?"

* * *

"I thought you weren't going to make it. You could have called, I would have escorted you in," Natasha said as she approached her friend and gave her a hug.

"I ended up having some time off for the weekend so I decided to catch a last minute flight here. I shot you a text earlier today letting you know I was on my way but my phone died on the way here so maybe you didn't get it. My phone has been acting weird," said Autumn as she held up her iPhone.

"I can get you a charger."

"Nah, don't bother. It's completely fried. I'll get a new one tomorrow," she shrugged.

"It's nice to see you again, Autumn. Things have been pretty dull without you," Natasha admitted, smiling slyly at the brunette.

"Really? You've been on the go for the past few months. That hasn't been exciting?"

"Too much testosterone," Natasha winked. "Come on, let me get you a drink and introduce you to the guys."

"Sounds good! Easy on the drinking though, I gotta catch a flight early tomorrow."

"Seriously? You can't come to New York for just one night. Besides, how are you going to dress like that and be such a goody goody?"

"Oh, this..." Autumn nervously cleared her throat and awkwardly placed her hand on her hip. "The lady at Macy's dressed me," she admitted with a cheesy smile.

"Yeah, no one needs to know that," said Natasha as she grabbed her friend's hand. "Now come on, let's drink and meet the guys."

* * *

"Sounds like a hell of a fight. Sorry I missed it," Sam told Steve as the two made their way upstairs.

"If I had known it was gonna be a firefight, I absolutely would have called."

"No, no. I'm not actually sorry. I'm just trying to sound tough. I'm very happy chasing cold leads on our missing persons case. Avenging is your world. Your world is crazy, man," the Falcon admitted as he stared down at all the party goers. Tony sure knew how to throw a party.

As his eyes scanned the room, he saw the back of what looked to be a very attractive woman talking with Nat, Clint, Bruce, Tony, Rhodey and Thor. She had long dark hair cascading down her back and a very flattering and fitting dress. Sam made a mental note to approach the woman later.

"Be it ever so humble," replied Steve with a half smirk.

"You find a place in Brooklyn yet?"

"I don't think I can afford a place in Brooklyn."

"Well, how about a girl?"

Steve let out a short chuckle.

"Don't think I'm ready to date again..."

"You had a good thing going with Autumn."

"You've seen first hand that our job doesn't exactly allow us to maintain relationships."

"Maybe one day, man. I really thought you and Autumn would have made it."

"It was nice while it lasted," Steve held up his beer and clinked it with Sam's for a toast. "She's a great gal. I hope she finds happiness."

Sam clinked his beer with Steve's took a quick swig. He watched as his friend stared absentmindedly across the room. He knew he was thinking of her and could easily see the pain Steve was masking behind his bright blue eyes. He was quite good at it when they were on the hunt for Bucky but even then he could tell he was still hung up on Autumn.

Steve and Autumn shared a little over two months together and from what he knew and could tell, it was amazing for the both of them. Sure, there was a lot of damage control after SHIELD went down but he knew that also helped bring them together. For those two months, all they had was each other when they were away from the spotlight. Some would think that their relationship was just a distraction but Sam knew it wasn't. He knew they genuinely cared for one another. That was evident even within the first few days together while on the run. Hell, he remembered thinking they were a couple the very first time he saw them.

Truth be told, Sam was a little bummed they didn't work out. Yeah, their occupation doesn't exactly mesh well with having a love life but he definitely thought they had the potential to make it through.

But not all good things can last, he supposed. Then a lightbulb went on and Sam raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, man. What about a distraction?" Sam suggested and motioned over at the girl he saw earlier.

"A distraction?" Steve questioned.

"Yeah, I mean, why not? Now is the perfect time."

"As much as I appreciate you looking out for me, I don't think that's a great idea," Steve said while raising a skeptical eyebrow and looking over to where Sam was looking.

"Come on, don't knock it till you try it. Look, Romanoff has a lady friend for the night. I haven't seen her face yet but I bet she's a looker and-"

"Autumn?" Steve quietly blurted out, but loud enough to effectively cut Sam off.

"No, that's not..." Sam squinted his eyes and only a second later did she turn to the side, revealing her identity to the Falcon. "Okay, that's Autumn. I did not know what she was going to be here."

* * *

"Autumn, this is-"

"Oh. My. God. Wow. I can't believe I'm meeting the Avengers!" Autumn exclaimed while holding her arms out.

Tony, Clint, Rhodey, Bruce and Thor all had an amused expression plastered on their faces.

"Way to play it cool, Carmichael," Natasha muttered.

"Ah, this is the young lady we've heard all about!" Thor grabbed her hand and gently kissed it. "I am Thor and it is a pleasure to meet you."

"Wow...um, hi there. I'm Autumn..." Autumn trailed off, caught off guard by the one and only Thor.

"Did you forget that we already met?" Tony asked in a mock offended tone.

"Yeah, yeah," Autumn waved him off and gasped when she saw Bruce. Bruce looked a tad bit frightened as the young woman reached down for his hand. "I can't believe...wow, Dr. Banner, first let me start off by saying that your work in gamma radiation and organic biology is astonishing. I've read all about it. Can I ask you some questions later?" She said all too fast.

Bruce looked down at the girl vigorously shaking his hand and let out a nervous laugh. "I-I'm sorry, are you a scientist?"

"No, no. More like a techie. But I mean, a girl can divulge, right?"

"This is hilarious," Clint laughed at Bruce's expression.

"Traitor," Tony muttered.

"Oh great, we have another geek among us," Rhodey half joked.

"Maybe save the questions for another time?" Natasha suggested.

"Yeah, another time...so um..." Autumn eyed the group. There was Nat, Clint, Thor, Tony, Bruce and Rhodey... "Are...are all the Avengers here?"

"Uh, duh. Didn't Nat tell you? We're celebrating!"

"Celebrating what? I thought this was just another one of your just for the hell of it parties..." Autumn nervously gulped and now felt very uncomfortable and wanted to leave.

"That is a long story. I take it she didn't know Steve was going to be here?" Tony asked Natasha.

"And why would that matter?" Autumn all of a sudden snapped and then nervously started to laugh.

"You tell us," Tony egged on.

"Well, if he didn't know she was here, he certainly knows now," Rhodey nodded to where Steve and Sam were standing on the upper level.

Autumn reluctantly looked over to where Rhodey was looking and spotted both Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson already staring back at her. While never breaking eye contact, Autumn leaned over to Natasha and whispered, "I don't know what to do..."

* * *

"Didn't see that coming," Sam admitted. "Apparently she's saying she doesn't know what to do."

"I know, I can read lips," told Steve before he left to head downstairs.

"Man, I can't have one cool talent for myself," muttered the Falcon.

* * *

"Maybe you should talk to him," suggested Natasha.

"Don't tell me that this was your plan all along, Natasha. Because if it is, this is seriously not cool!" Autumn whispered/yelled at her red headed friend. She was inwardly panicking as she saw Steve walking downstairs.

The Black Widow just rolled her eyes.

"You and Steve are opposites in a lot of ways but you both are hard headed. Just talk to him."

"Nat, come on. He didn't want to talk to me while he was gone and maybe I can understand that. But he came back and didn't want to talk to me. He came back, Nat. I don't want to talk to him."

"I thought you moved on," came Steve's voice.

Autumn reluctantly made eye contact with her old flame and felt her heart break into a million pieces all over again. There he was, the man she fell so hard for, in the flesh. It certainly didn't help he was looking astonishingly handsome. Autumn didn't know what to do. She couldn't say anything or bring herself to move. She and Steve shared each other's hearts during their several weeks together and it was like he didn't even give a damn after he left her. No contact, no attempt to make contact, and even after he came back, no contact. It was evident that Steve didn't want to be with her anymore. But really, she was mad at herself for ever allowing herself to fall in love with someone. Especially Captain America, of all people.

"Can we talk? Alone?" Steve asked, ignoring everyone else in the group and only focusing on Autumn.

When Autumn didn't move or say anything, Natasha gave her a 'gentle' nudge, earning an 'ow' and a forward stumble from the electric girl.

"S-sure," Autumn answered but crossed her arms, making sure he knew she was closing herself off.

* * *

Once Autumn stepped onto the balcony, the sound of music and partygoers drowned out and all that could be heard was the quiet clicking of her footsteps along with Steve's following behind her. Despite the New York City lights, the moon was shining bright and the stars were as radiant as ever. It probably helped that they were several stories from the ground and overlooking almost every building in the immediate vicinity.

Autumn bit her lip. She was totally unprepared and her heart was racing a million beats a second.

"Steve..." she breathed out his name, all of a sudden feeling her throat become dry. She didn't think Natasha would blindside her like this. Not with something, no, someone who shattered her heart. "There's nothing to talk about..."

She heard him let out a sigh and take a few steps so he was closer to her. Steve stood only a few feet behind her.

"You're right. There's nothing I can do or say that will excuse what I did..." Steve let out another sigh and approached her so that he was standing by her side. He shoved his hands into his pockets and the two looked up at the night sky.

"Well, we can agree to that. I'm sorry, I didn't know you were going to be here tonight. I didn't think Natasha would blindside me like that," Autumn quietly spoke.

"Guess you really don't know Natasha then," Steve commented.

"Apparently not."

More silence engulfed the duo. Autumn was trying to find just anything to say to the man but her pride was keeping her quiet.

 _'No, he doesn't deserve anything. I shouldn't even be here right now,'_ she mentally argued with herself.

"It was near impossible to keep contact while going after Buck," Steve explained and stole a glance at his former lover. His heart started to race. Now that they were alone, it was really sinking in that she was here. That silly, beautiful and sparky woman he fell in love with was actually standing right next to him, and she was more captivating than ever.

Then he felt that all too familiar heartache again. It was always there, since the moment he left her. But right now it was more prominent than ever. She was right there. Right next to him in all her beauty and wonder and he couldn't even hold her. He couldn't kiss her or say anything that would make up for what he did to her.

But he could try.

"I came back, Autumn...I wanted to see you but I was told you moved to California. I figured you had your mind made up and thought it would be best to leave you alone," Steve admitted. "Figured you didn't want anything to do with me."

Autumn lightly clenched her fists and turned to face Steve. Initially, she was going to give him the silent treatment. He didn't deserve anything from her.

But who was she kidding? She was never the type to keep her mouth shut.

"What if I didn't talk to you for over six months, Steve? How would you feel? How would you react?"

"I made a mistake, Autumn," Steve blurted out almost as if he was trying not to admit it.

Steve grabbed Autumn's hands, taking her by surprise. The look on her face was almost indescribable. Her face was a mix of emotions. Confusion, anger, hurt...but her cerulean blue eyes is what drew him in. Her beautiful deep blue eyes almost made her look like she was longing for him. Oh, how he wished that were the case. "I should have known better. I should have made more of an effort to go after you. I loved you...no, I still love you. I still love you, Autumn. I've never stopped loving you," Steve truthfully told her.

Autumn wanted to look away from his gaze but she couldn't.

"This is a little too much..." Autumn pried her hands from his.

"I'm sorry, but it's the truth."

"People who love each other don't just leave each other in the dust...I..." it was then Autumn realized she was being a hypocrite. But, she was never going to say that out loud.

"That's what you did to me, Autumn," Steve gently told her while cupping her face with one hand. "We both made mistakes. And I'm sorry I never came after you. Is there any way you can forgive me?"

The electric girl was starting to feel torn. On one hand, she still had feelings for the guy. On the other, she wanted to punch him in his perfect face. On the other, if she had a third hand, she wanted to break down and cry. She was on an emotional roller coaster and she didn't know what to say or do.

All of a sudden, she started to laugh.

"What's so funny...?" Steve asked slowly while raising an eyebrow, clearly not amused.

Autumn's laughter only got louder and Steve's patience was quickly diminishing. He was pouring his heart out for her and all she could do was laugh?

"Are you done?" he annoyed asked.

"Wait...hold up...not yet, Steve...let me catch my breath..." Autumn straightened her body and put her hands on her hips as she attempted to catch her breath. Once she was calm, she walked up to the super soldier and just smirked at him.

Steve knew whatever was going to come next was not going to be good.

"What's funny, you ask? What's funny is how you think you can waltz right back into my life and apologize as if it was nothing just breaking my heart like that, Steve Rogers. God, you know what? Yes, I may have left but you know what the difference was? I _never_ knew when you were coming home and I never knew _if_ you were coming home! So I made a choice to move on with my life because how was I supposed to wait around for someone who didn't even bother to write a god damn fucking note? I had no idea where you were or if you were alive or if you even loved me. So _soooorrry_ I decided to move on with my freaking life! But you," Autumn angrily jammed her index finger into his chest. " _You_ came back and didn't even bother to come after me. You can't blame me for what I did, Steve. You. Just. Can't. You should have came after me..." Autumn's voice cracked as she muttered that last sentence. "I never knew if you were going to come back..."

Steve was so stunned he couldn't even bring himself to say anything.

"Oh, shit!" they both heard Rhodey's voice.

Steve and Autumn turned just in time to see Nat, Clint, Thor, Rhodey and Tony stumble through the balcony door.

The eavesdropping group shot dirty looks at the War Machine, who gave away their position.

"Spare me the dirty looks, alright. There was a freaking spider crawling on my arm. Tell me you wouldn't freak out."

"They are quite terrifying," said Thor.

"Yo, Tony. You need exterminators in here, ASAP," Rhodey straightened out his collar and walked back into the party with a little too much added swag.

"Well, that was certainly interesting, I should say," Thor nervously laughed while clasping his hands. Bruce could be seen shaking his head disapprovingly at the Asguardian. "Right, we'll be out of your way then. Carry on," Thor gestured with a majestic wave.

Autumn looked right back at the super soldier and glared at him.

"We're finished, Steve," Autumn blatantly started before storming off, leaving Steve by himself.

* * *

 **As always, a special thank you to those who reviewed!**

BuckyBarnes07: Thank you for reviewing! I'm glad I updated too. It's been so long and this story was always in the back of my mind.

Evaline101: As of right now, no. But I'm sure it's pretty obvious that they're both harboring feelings for one another. Autumn is just too guarded and stubborn to admit it.

HouseOfStark: Thank you! I'm glad you love it!

kiroroblue: Haha, thanks! I definitely try to add humor in there while keeping them in character so I'm happy you thought it was funny. :)

 **So, what did you guys think? Things are just getting started and Ultron will be introduced next chapter! I would definitely love to add Autumn to the Avengers but wasn't sure. I'm pretty sure I will do it but I feel like it'll be a challenge adding her into every fight scene and basically just implementing her into the story by giving her such a big role...didn't know if she should be more in the background. Thoughts? And what did we think of her encounter with Steve?**

 **Reviews and criticism always appreciated. Flames are not. Thanks!**


	13. I Might Still Love You

**Hello, all. Didn't get as much feed back last chapter so I'm hoping this one will make up for it! Enjoy!**

* * *

 _Autumn fiddled with the keys of her old rustic grand piano. Yes, the electric charged girl also had another hobby. Two, to be exact._

 _After getting involved with SHIELD and even after the fall of SHIELD, there wasn't much she had to herself. Singing and playing the piano was the one thing she could have for herself without anyone judging her or criticizing her. Well, at least within the confines of her apartment. Sure, she wasn't the best at it but she liked to think that she was good enough to get by. It was a talent she had acquired at a young age, courtesy of her mother also being a pianist as a side job. Autumn was known to have come from a successful family, but not many knew how musically intwined the family was._

 _Steve was supposed to be at her place over an hour ago, though Autumn wasn't too concerned. It was easy to get sucked into all this damage control after SHIELD went down. Despite not wanting to, she unfortunately had her fair share in the spotlight and she wasn't highlighted nearly as bad as Steve and Natasha. She supposed she and Sam had it easy compared to them. It just sucked that Steve was leaving the day after tomorrow and she wanted to spend as much time with him as she could._

 _Autumn opened the windows and let the summer breeze flow through the curtains and through her living room. She sat back down on her piano bench and loosely started to play a familiar tune._

 _"Wow, I suck..." she muttered as she fat fingered some of the notes._

 _Autumn stretched out her arms and cracked her fingers. "Here we go..."_

* * *

 _Steve quickly made his way into Autumn's building, careful not to spill the mass amounts of Chinese food he was carrying. Turns out, both he and his girl could put down some food. As he approached her door, he heard a very familiar tune being played on the piano. It was an old classic song that came out a few years after he went down into the ice._

 _Curious, he quietly opened the unlocked door and let himself in._

 _"Moon river, wider than a mile,_  
 _I'm crossing you in style, someday,_  
 _Old dream maker, you heartbreaker,_  
 _Wherever your goin', I'm goin' your way..."_

 _Steve peeked into the living room and was stunned when he saw Autumn playing the piano and singing. SINGING. He had no idea she could even sing._

 _Her voice was very fitting for the song. It had a very classical and jazzy sound to it. Steve quietly set their food down before leaning against the wall and crossing his arms. He smiled as she continued to play._

 _Steve genuinely smiled as she let her fingers glaze over the keys, producing for the most part, a beautiful and classical tune._

 _She stumbled a few keys and let out soft frustrated sighs as she tried to get the bridge down. She smiled triumphantly when she made it through._

 _"Two drifters, off to see the world,_  
 _There's such a lot of world to see,_  
 _We're after the same old rainbow's end,_  
 _Waitin' round the bend_  
 _My huckleberry friend, Moon River, and me..."_

 _Autumn ended the song and let out a sigh. She rested an elbow in the piano, in turn producing a very unpleasant and off tune noise, and rolled her eyes._

 _"And to think I wanted to be a broadway singer..."_

 _"You would have been pretty great at it."_

 _"Son of a -" Autumn would have finished that sentence if her fall didn't cut her off._

 _"Autumn! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Steve rushed over to his fallen girlfriend and leaned over her. "You left your door unlocked so I just let myself in."_

 _Autumn wanted to be so mad at Steve. So very mad. But one look at him and she just couldn't. The way he was hovering over her, cupping her face. The look of worry and guilt etched across his own face. Not to mention the fact the his muscles were practically about to bulge from the all black cotton t-shirt he was wearing. No, she couldn't be mad._

 _"It's...it's okay. Dang it, Steve. I was so close to electrocuting you," Autumn warned._

 _"Glad you didn't. You, doll face," Steve said as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Have a very beautiful voice."_

 _"Yeah, let's pretend you heard nothing," Autumn quickly waved him off. "You gonna get off me?"_

 _"But you and I both know I didn't," Steve completely ignored her question. "I had no idea you could sing or play piano. Why didn't you say something?"_

 _"Umm, it never really came up. I don't know, Steve."_

 _"Guess I should have noticed the piano part though. I assumed that was for decor..."_

 _"Yeah, it's been awhile."_

 _"What made you start now?"_

 _"I guess I got bored. I was waiting for my boyfriend to come over," Autumn smiled and playfully poked his chest._

 _"Sorry, got caught up. I think I can make it up to you though."_

 _"Really now? And how do you intend on doing that, Captain Rogers?" Autumn's finger traveled up his chest and neck before gently pulling at his bottom lip._

 _The notion combined with the use of his rank set a fire burning inside of him. He was going to tell her food but he couldn't bring himself to say anything._

 _"Oh...too much?" Her eyes widened when she saw his somewhat void expression._

 _Steve shook his head and crawled over her, forcing her to lay down on the floor. "Not at all."_

 _The captain gently cupped her face and brushed his thumb over her full lips. Autumn's breath hitched right before his lips collided with hers, capturing her in a full and heated kiss._

 _Autumn wrapped her arms his neck and gave into his intense kissing. In fact, she more than welcomed it. It wasn't like they haven't kissed before, but this time they were definitely taking it to the next level. Him on top of her, their bodies pressed against each other..._

 _Autumn gasped when his lips moved down to her neck. He kissed her and nipped at her skin gently, careful not leave any marks. When he moved lower, she uncontrollably let out a light moan, causing him to stop._

 _"S-sorry," he stuttered, loosing that confidence he just had._

 _"D-don't be..." Autumn smiled. "That was...nice."_

 _"Nice?" Steve goofily smiled at her word choice._

 _Autumn smiled too before kissing him again. Steve wrapped her legs around his waist and abruptly stood up, causing her to laugh into their kiss._

 _"I brought us food," Steve said as he walked them into her kitchen. "I don't want it to get cold."_

 _"You really are the best boyfriend ever."_

 _"And you have the most beautiful voice I've ever heard. Promise you'll sing for me again sometime?" Steve asked before kissing her lips once more. "And you gotta teach me how to play."_

 _"Why? So you can master the piano and become better than me? I don't think so," Autumn laughed._

 _"Please?" Steve asked with a fake pout before kissing her once more._

 _Enticed by his kiss, she nodded her head and gave in. "Anything for you, Steve."_

* * *

Steve allowed himself to smile at the memory. It was one he thought of often, for many reasons. Her singing, playing the piano, the intimate moment they shared, being silly with one another.

Right now, more than ever, he was really beating himself up for not initially going after her.

"You messed up, Rogers," he told himself before knocking back another beer.

"Too bad you can't get drunk, Rogers. If you were a normal person, you'd be way past that point. Makes me a little jealous of you," said Natasha. She stood behind the soldier, looking out at the night sky.

"I take it you're the one who invited her?" Steve questioned, though it sounded more like an accusation.

"I didn't want to make things awkward between the two of you," she simply answered.

"Right. Because us seeing each other wasn't awkward. You didn't want to tell me she was coming?" Steve retorted.

"Yeah, that was pretty awkward," Natasha said in amused tone, earning a dirty look from Steve. "I imagined things would go down differently."

"And why on earth would you think that? You knew how it ended."

Natasha shrugged. "I knew Autumn wouldn't react favorably per say but I didn't expect her to go all out like that. It's evident you both really care about each other. I thought something would come out of you both seeing each other. In fact, I still do think that."

"Did you not see what just happened?" Steve questioned her as if she was crazy.

"I did. Did you?" Natasha replied with a smirk. "She still likes you, Steve. Now come on, let's go inside. Everyone is gone. Let's hang out."

"Autumn is still here?"

"Yes. Don't worry, I spoke to her. She's calm now."

* * *

"Sorry you had to see me freak out like that," Autumn apologized as she saw her old friend approach her.

"Bring it in, Pikachu," Sam engulfed the smaller woman in a hug. He knew they'd cross paths again someday. He didn't think that would be tonight. "Don't worry about it. How are you feeling?"

Autumn pursed her lips together and shrugged her shoulders. "I am feeling...a bunch of feelings. I'm really just trying to put them in check right now."

"He still loves you, you know. That has to count for something," Sam tried to console.

"That's the thing," Autumn snorted. "He still loves me, he says. Yet did nothing about it."

"He thought you moved on. He was respecting that."

Autumn stayed silent and chose not to acknowledge his comment.

"I know it's hard, but really try and see things from his perspective."

Autumn reached over for her glass of wine and downed it in one impressive gulp. In a sense, she could bring herself to understand. But it hurt too damn much.

"I gotta go, Sam. I have a plane to catch tomorrow morning. It was nice seeing you all again. We'll keep in touch," Autumn squeezed his arm.

"Wait, don't go," Sam gently grabbed her upper arm. He knew all she needed was one day with Steve. And maybe just maybe they could start over again. "Just stay the night. Relax and hang out with us. You have much more than Steve here tonight. We can catch up and I definitely know Natasha missed you."

"I...fine. I'll stay the night. Only because I missed you both too."

* * *

"But, it's a trick!" Clint exclaimed, referring to Thor's hammer.

"Oh, no. It's much more than that," Thor countered.

"Uh, 'Whosoever be worthy shall haveth the power!' Whatever man! It's a trick."

"Well, please, be my guest," the Asguardian invited.

"Really?"

"Yes," Thor motions to Mjolnir while Barton stands up.

"Oh, this is going to be beautiful," says Rhodey.

"Clint, you've had a tough week. We won't hold it against you if you can't get it up," Tony teases, earning laughter from everyone in the group.

"Has anyone aside from Thor been able to lift his hammer?" Autumn asked Natasha.

"Nope. I'm not sure that everyone has tried," answered Natasha. "This should be interesting."

"You know I've seen this before, right?" Clint grabbed the hammer and attempted to lift it, but it wouldn't budge. "I still don't know how you do it."

"Smell the silent judgment?" Tony taunted.

"Please, Stark, by all means," Clint says, motioning to the hammer.

"Oh, here we go," Natasha smirked.

"This should be good," Autumn let herself smile in amusement. Her eyes glanced over just beyond Tony was standing and saw Steve, who was also looking at her. But he quickly looked away.

"Never one to shrink from an honest challenge. It's physics," the Iron Man lectured.

"Physics!" Bruce agrees.

"Right. So, if I lift it, I then rule Asguard?"

"Yes, of course," answers Thor.

"I will be be re-instituting Prima Nocta."

Autumn let out a laugh and buried her mouth in her hand. "Very inappropriate."

"She thinks I'm funny," Tony says before trying to lift the hammer. When it wouldn't move, he let it go and paused for a second. "I'll be right back."

Seconds later, Stark returns with an armored hand and attempts to pull it again. No luck.

"A little help here?"

"I got you," Rhodey wraps his armored hand around the hammer and both he and Tony begin to pull. "Are you even pulling?"

"Are you on my team?"

"Just represent! Pull!" they both groan.

Next, Banner tries to lift the hammer, only to let it go and let out an awkward roar, as if he were trying to change into the Hulk but failed. This earned him weird and amused looks from the group.

"Come on, Cap," Rhodey urges Steve.

Steve shrugs before stepping up to the hammer and gives it a pull. Only Thor was able to see it budge just a tiny bit, causing him to look alarmed. But Steve still fails to lift it and puts his hands up, signaling his defeat.

"Ah, nothing," Thor nervously laughs in relief.

"Widow?" Asks Bruce.

"Oh, no no. That's not a question I need answered. Autumn?"

"I bet she could do it. Aren't you able to control thunder or something?" Rhodey asked. "Are you a match for the God of Thunder?"

"Nah, she can generate electricity," Tony answered.

"Generate electricity? From what? Your body?"

"Yes, I can," Autumn answered and held out her hands. Little sparks started to emit from her palms.

Rhodey took a step back. "Now that is freaky."

"Come on, Sparky. Try and pull the hammer," Tony urged.

Autumn shrugged and stood up. She grabbed the hammer and tried to pull it, but no avail.

"I am not worthy," she said while mocking Thor's accent and giving him a sloppy courtesy.

"All deference to the man who wouldn't be king, but it's rigged."

"You bet your ass," Clint agreed.

"Steve, he said a bad language word," Maria teased.

"Did you tell everyone about that?" Steve asked Tony.

"The handle's imprinted, right? Like a security code. 'Whosoever is carrying Thor's fingerprints' is, I think, the literal translation," Tony logically stated, though he knew that wasn't the case.

"Yes, well that's uh, that's a very, very interesting theory. I have a simpler one," Thor grips the handle of his hammer and flips his hammer. "You're all not worthy," he states, earning a chorus of disagreement from everyone else in the room.

Then all of a sudden, there was a loud screeching noise, causing everyone to cover their ears.

Autumn's eyes grow wide as she sees a very mangled robot approach the group. It was leaving a trail of oil behind it and the eyes were lit up with blue.

"Worthy..." it spoke. "No...how could you be worthy? You're all killers."

"Stark..." Steve questioned while never taking is eye off the robot. He instinctively moved over to where Autumn was to protect her.

"JARVIS?" Tony calls out.

"I'm sorry," the robot spoke. "I was asleep. Or...I was a dream?"

"Reboot, Legionnaire OS, we got a buggy suit," Tony ordered as he tapped the device wrapped around his wrist. Nothing was working. His systems were offline.

"There was a terrible noise...and I was tangled in...in...strings. I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy."

"You killed someone?" Steve questioned the robot.

"Wouldn't have been my first call. But, down in the real world we're faced with ugly choices."

"Who sent you?" Thor assertively questioned.

"I see a suit of armor around the world," the robot replayed Tony's voice.

Bruce looked at Tony in disbelief. "Ultron."

"In the flesh. Or, no, not yet. Not this...chrysalis. But I'm ready. I'm on a mission."

"What is he talking about?" Autumn muttered to Natasha. She readied herself and was low key thankful Natasha had lent her a sweater. If there was going to be a fight, which she was suspecting there would be, it wouldn't work in her favor wearing a strapless dress.

"What mission?" Natasha asked Ultron.

"Peace of our time," answers Ultron. Suddenly, the Iron Legion bots break through the walls and starts to attack the team.

Steve protectively stood in front of Autumn and kicked the table in front of him at one of the bots, only for it to crash through and send the table flying back, taking both Steve and Autumn down with it.

"Autumn!" Steve called out.

"I'm fine," Autumn pulled herself up and ran off.

"Get cover!"

Autumn ignored him and ran to the upper level. She saw Tony leap off the upper deck and onto a robot. There was a bot within jumping distance. Surely, she could do the same...so that's what she did. Swallowing her fear, she leapt off the upper deck and wrapped her arms and legs around the iron bot. Without wasting any time, Autumn let her body light up and engulfed the bot with electricity.

Because it was metal, a lot more electricity was generated than intended, and the electricity struck both the ceiling above and the ground below her. It was a lot more damage than she expected, but at least it got the job done. The bot deactivated and started to fall to the ground.

"Oh no, oh shit!" Autumn screamed out as she fell to the ground. She was falling from too high up.

"I got her!" She heard Thor's voice before falling rather hard into his arms.

"Ow, geez! Are your arms made of metal?" She complained as she ran off towards a half bot hovering in front of Dr. Cho.

"That's quite insulting!"

Steve got to the half bot before she was able to so she made a run for something else that caught her eye. His shield.

"Steve!" She called out and threw him his shield. As soon as it was in his possession, he threw it at the last remaining bot and destroyed it.

"That was dramatic," said Ultron. "I know you mean well. You just didn't think it through. You want to protect the world, but you don't want it to change. How is humanity saved if it's not allowed to...evolve?" Ultron reaches down and grabs the face of a dismembered bot. "With these...these puppets? There's only one path to peace - The Avengers' extinction."

Suddenly, Thor throws his hammer at Ultron and smashes him to pieces.

* * *

After an almost turned hostile debrief, Natasha took Autumn to her room so she could borrow some clothes and have a place to sleep. A few hours passed and Autumn was no where tired. Dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt, she decided she would wander the tower until she got tired. Despite the mess, she was in awe at how futuristic and sleek the Avengers Tower was. It really was something.

And now that she really thought about it, she was at the damn Avengers Tower. The AVENGERS Tower. Avengers included Steve. She should have known prior to coming...but at the same time if he was going to be here she thought Natasha would tell her.

She wandered a few floors until she found herself where just hours ago, she and the Avengers were partying, completely unknowing of the events that would follow. In the corner of her eye, she spotted a beautiful grand piano. It appeared to be unscathed minus a couple of drinks on top of it.

"Seriously, do people not know how much these things cost?" Autumn scoffed as she removed the wine glasses and beers from the piano. "Gosh, this is beautiful. What I would give..." Autumn admired as she sat down and let her fingers glaze over the keys.

"Still play?"

Autumn perked up at the sound of Steve's voice but didn't turn to face him.

"I do," she answered. As mad as she wanted to be at him, she didn't have the energy to be. Not after all that's happened. And truth be told, she couldn't stop thinking about how he tried to protect her when they first started fighting the bots. She didn't listen, of course, but she low key found that a little bit endearing. "Can't sleep?" She asked the Captain as she made up her own tune.

"After what just happened? I don't think I'll be getting much sleep tonight," said Steve as leaned against the side of the piano and crossed his arms.

"I imagine it would be difficult to sleep after what just happened," Autumn let herself quickly glance up at the man while still continuing to play. He dressed in a light blue muscle tee and black sweats. She couldn't quite pinpoint his expression, though if she had to guess she would say he was just like her, angry, sad, and confused. At everything that went down earlier.

"It wasn't just Ultron."

Autumn stopped playing and let out a sigh. She knew all too well what Steve was feeling right now. Because beneath all the hurt and anger, there was still a part of her that hadn't stopped loving him.

"You know, we have a mission to focus on," Autumn said, wanting to change the topic.

"We?" Steve questioned as he took a seat next to her. "We meaning you'll stay and help us?"

"What? You're not going to turn all protective and stop me?" Autumn joked.

Steve let out a sigh and let himself smile. He remembered when he told Autumn she wasn't allowed to go with him and Natasha when they were in DC a year ago. He remembered her telling him that she was coming and that he would need her, like it or not. Maybe not in those exact words, but more or less.

"I mean I could try, but what good would that do?"

"Glad you're finally learning."

"You do realize that if you fight with us, that makes you an Avenger."

Autumn let that resonate with her for a few seconds. An Avenger. She would be a part of the group who was also known as "The Earth's Mightiest Heroes". Autumn didn't think of herself as a hero and never would. But she knew she had to do the right thing. She had her knowledge and powers and she needed to put them to use.

"You up for the challenge?"

Autumn smirked at the soldier. "Don't think I can handle it?"

"I know you can," Steve confidently answered. Though he would never stop worrying about her, he knew she was a force to be reckoned with. Sometimes he questioned whether or not she really knew how powerful she truly was.

"Thanks..." Autumn looked down and started to fiddle with the keys again. "So, Captain. Do you remember anything from that one piano lesson I gave you?"

Steve looked down at her and smiled. "You might have to teach me again."

* * *

 **As always, thank you to those who reviewed!**

Evaline101: Agreed! And at least now she's beginning to see where Steve is coming from too. =)

Kimiko01: Oh wow, a few hours? lol. Thank you for reviewing. I'm happy you love the two of them together. And yes, the plan is to include flashbacks of their relationship throughout Age of Ultron. Glad you caught on to that. =)

 **Let me know what you thought of this chapter! I spent an awful lot of time on it! :) I'm excited that Autumn is an Avenger now! I can't wait to write more.**

 **Oh and later on, I plan on the Scarlett Witch also warping Autumn's mind. I can't think of what I want her to see yet. Any suggestions?**

 **Ideas and constructive criticism always appreciated, flames are not. :)**


	14. Yearning For You

Sorry for the late post! You guys, I got super sick. Like, 103 fever, bed ridden and couldn't breathe type of sick. It was awful. I haven't been that sick since I was a kid I swear.

Any hoo, enjoy!

* * *

 _One month after Steve and Autumn's first date..._

 _Steve's ears perked up when he heard someone knocking at his apartment door. His lips curved into a smile because he knew exactly who it was. The knocking turned into a rhythmic beat and Steve could only roll his eyes at her antics._

 _Eagerly, he opened his door._

 _"You know, I heard you the first time," he joked as he swung his door open._

 _Autumn put her hands on her waist and flashed her boyfriend a cheesy smile._

 _"I dunno, Steve. You are kind of old, ya know. I was afraid you didn't hear me," she joked._

 _"I might be old, sweetheart, but I can assure you my senses are more keen than yours," Steve grabbed her hand and pulled her inside and into his arms. "I missed you."_

 _Autumn wrapped her arms around his stomach and leaned into his chest. She could get used to this. It felt so right just being in his embrace._

 _"I was only gone for like two days. And I offered you to come with and meet my family."_

 _"Longest two days of my life."_

 _"You're kind of sweet, Captain."_

 _"You know I would have gone if I could. And sorry I couldn't pick you up," Steve apologized, eyeing her recently shot leg._

 _"Steve, you always pick me up. Besides, my leg is much better. I'm perfectly okay driving and walking up a few flights of stairs."_

 _"You know there's an elevator, right?"_

 _Autumn separated herself from Steve but held onto his hands._

 _"Wait, what? Seriously...?" She asked in disbelief._

 _"Yes, doll. And you call yourself an agent? You've been here quite a few times and you've never seen the elevator?" Steve joked._

 _"Oh shush. Maybe I was just super excited to see you and that's why I didn't notice," Autumn played off while shrugging her shoulders._

 _"Oh really?" Steve led her into the living room._

 _"Yup," Autumn plopped herself down on the couch and Steve followed suit. "I mean, we've been pretty inseparable for the past month. And I kind of really like you and oh god, I am turning into such a sap."_

 _Steve couldn't help himself from smiling like an idiot, much to Autumn's relief. The last thing she wanted was for him to think she was being weird about their relationship._

 _The soldier leaned towards her and gently kissed her lips. He cupped her face with one hand and caressed her cheek with his thumb._

 _"I'm just glad you kind of really like me too," he told her._

 _Autumn smiled and scooted onto his lap, resting her head on the crook of his neck. She loved being in his embrace. Their size difference was rather significant with her being on the small side and Steve being...well, Steve._

 _"Well, duh," Autumn said in an obvious tone. "So what's on the agenda today, Captain? Oh! I know it's kind of silly to celebrate one month of dating but I did do something special for you."_

 _"Did you now?" Steve raised an amused eyebrow. "You didn't have to, doll."_

 _"Yup. Wanna see?" Autumn scurried off his lap and stood in front of him with her hands proudly on her waist. Her smile was a mix between crazy and overly excited._

 _"You're kind of scaring me right now with that look..."_

 _"I was doing some shopping today and look what I found..." Autumn pulled down her zipper and shook off her sweater only to reveal a form fitting dark blue tank top with Steve's shield in the middle. "Call me crazy, but I happen to like this shirt."_

 _Again, Steve couldn't help but smile. Had it been anyone else, it would have been awkward. But on Autumn? She looked damn good in it._

 _What really made him smile though was just her being her. How beautiful she was in his eyes, her contagious smile, her charisma, her thoughtfulness...he couldn't get enough of her. Here she was dressed up in a tank top and blue jeans. Hair in a sideways french braid and barely any make up on and was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen._

 _"It looks perfect on you. Too bad I don't have a shirt of you," Steve grabbed her hands and pulled her back down on his lap and planted a kiss on her cheek. "You really are beautiful, you know that?"_

 _Autumn made eye contact with him and felt herself blush. It was real easy to be close and flirty with Steve when she threw some humor and jokes in there but when they really had intimate moments, that's when she starts to feel a bit insecure and embarrassed. She tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ears and looked down._

 _"Thank you..."_

 _Steve kissed the top of her head and wrapped his arms around her. He hoped he wasn't being too clingy. He never thought he would be the physical type but after two weeks of dating her, they were constantly hugging, cuddling, and holding hands whenever they could. As it turned out, Autumn was pretty much the same way too._

 _"My gift is not much, but I planned on cooking for us tonight."_

 _"Food is the way to my heart, Captain," Autumn half joked._

 _"Then I'll make whatever you want and lots of it," said Steve as he got up and headed to the kitchen._

 _Autumn's heart damn near skipped a beat. It was the most amazing feeling in the world knowing the man she was quickly falling for was falling for her too._

* * *

"Autumn?"

Autumn let out a groan as she felt herself being lightly shook. Not even knowing who it was, she swatted them away and muttered something incoherent.

"You gotta wake up, dol-Autumn."

Autumn slowly lifted her head and groaned when she saw drool hanging from her mouth and onto her arm.

"Oh, that's great. Morning, Steve..." Autumn reached over the kitchen counter where she fell asleep and grabbed a napkin. "Still attracted to me?" Autumn joked, her voice very tired and raspy.

Steve, dressed in the bottom half of his uniform and a rather tight dark grey under armor shirt, placed a cup of coffee next to her.

"I think you know the answer to that," came Steve's half amused voice.

"Mmm. Thank you," Autumn said after taking a sip of her coffee. Steve still remembered how to make her coffee just right. Three creams, two sugars. "Though I don't think any amount of caffeine will wake me up. What time is it?"

"Almost 0600. Team is meeting up at Tony's lab in half an hour. How'd you end up falling asleep in the kitchen?" Steve questioned as he poured a cup of coffee for himself.

"Well, after our late night piano recital I got hungry. Sat down, ate some cereal..." Autumn eyed the empty bowl next to her. "And honestly, I really don't remember falling asleep here."

"You are borderline narcoleptic. Remember when you fell asleep in the middle of dinner?" Steve reminisced, shaking his head while subtly smiling.

Autumn sat up a little more straight and started to pat down her messy hair.

"Okay there, Cap. I'm not narcoleptic. Besides, I wouldn't have been so tired if you didn't kill me at the gym earlier that day," Autumn retorted, also smiling.

For a moment there, Steve felt like he was with Autumn again. It was if they had never broken up and they were still their silly selves around one another. But that feeling was gone as soon as it was there. Reality settled in and they were no longer together.

"Shouldn't have called me an old man."

"Well, am I wrong?"

"I'm technically only thirty."

"Hey, you should definitely embrace your real age. I would be ecstatic to look as hot as you at 95-years-old," Autumn complimented but then blushed when she realized what she just said. She bravely glanced up at Steve and saw that little smile of his and rolled her eyes. "Don't be weird about it. You already know I think that."

"I'm 97-years-old," Steve retorted.

"Gimme a break, I didn't want to do the math. Too early," Autumn waved him off.

"I made more coffee if you need it," Steve offered.

"Steve, I need to talk to you," came Maria's voice as she entered the kitchen.

Autumn eyed the agent who helped recruit her.

"Morning, Hill."

"Good morning, Autumn. You're still here. Are you going to help track down Ultron?" Maria questioned while scrolling through her tablet.

"That's the plan."

"Good. We could really use your help."

"Oh yeah," Autumn perked up and turned to face Steve and Maria. "Did I tell you I have a new power?"

* * *

"I can create and manipulate energy within myself to generate this..." Autumn held out her right hand from a few feet off the ground and let electricity spark from her hand.

"Careful with that," Clint joked.

The Avengers were almost set to leave for Wakanda but Tony wanted to see and assess Autumn's newly discovered power before leaving. The Avengers were on the ground watching her as she levitated.

"The more I trained and started to really be in tune with my gifts, my senses became...I guess more aware? I was actually starting to feel the movement of charged particles in the air."

"You learned to manipulate that too," said Natasha.

"Yes."

"Electrokinetic flight," commented Bruce.

Autumn nodded.

"We were fighting Ultron and you fell," Thor accused, remembering having to catch her.

"I'm not that in tune with my flying yet. It requires a lot of focus," Autumn explained. She then suddenly flew higher and started to fly in fast circles around the training room. "I can fly well when I'm focused. It's something I need to work on."

"Great. We have another flyer," Natasha commented.

"Sounds like your jealous," Clint teased. "Don't worry, I am too."

Steve unfolded his arms and walked up to Autumn as she landed.

"I don't want you flying unless it's absolutely necessary then," Steve firmly told her.

Autumn crossed her arms and pursed her lips together.

"I suppose I have to listen to you since you're the boss, right?" She said in a joking manner.

"I'm telling you as a friend, Autumn. You need to go into this fight at our absolute best. Flying isn't something you've trained with a whole lot. Your newfound power could also be your weakness."

The brunette only half smiled and nodded at the man.

"Can't argue with that logic."

"Good," Steve subtly smirked. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah. As ready as I can be. Kind of like old times?" Autumn asked, trying to lighten the mood. "We did make a pretty good team together."

"We did," Steve agreed. Even though the team was about to take off on a rather fast five hour trip to Wakanda, he could admit that being around Autumn somewhat put him at ease. And before they went into the unknowns of Wakanda, he wanted to give her a full and real apology. "Listen, Autumn, I-"

"Are you two lovebirds done?" Tony interrupted as he approached the duo. Steve and Autumn broke eye contact and distanced themselves from one another.

"What, Stark?"

Autumn felt her cheeks starting to burn red from Tony's comment. As she looked around, she could see everyone staring at them with dumb little smirks on their face.

"If you guys are done with..." Tony motioned back and forth between the two of them and had a disgusted look on his face. "...whatever this is, I wanted to show Autumn her new suit."

"Wait what?" Autumn questioned. "A suit?"

"Yes. When I originally tried to recruit you I had already made you a suit. You know, just in case. But you were so adamant about not joining the Avengers that I didn't even get a chance to persuade you with it. It's on the quinjet. Wanna try it on?"

"Um, hell yeah I do," Autumn enthusiastically answered.

"Okay, two minutes to get what you need. Meet on the quinjet," Steve said to the rest of the Avengers.

* * *

I know. Short chapter but I threw some fluff in there so hopefully it makes up for it. The action begins next chapter!

And as always, thank you to my lovely reviewers!

 **nightmarhunter676:** thank you! :) hope you enjoyed this last chapter

 **Evaline101:** yeah, which is pretty surprising for Autumn, right? I know she's usually outspoken but I really wanted the heartbreak to be evident last chapter. I tried to bring her outspoken self out in this chapter though :)

 **BuckyBarnes07: ** thank you for reviewing both chapters 12 & 13\. :)

 **l0velylexx:** thank you so much! :) I'm really glad you said that cause plunking OC's into the storyline can be challenging haha.

I'll update the next chapter soon to make up for posting this late! I'll update sooner if I get reviews and even ideas. =)


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